Social Media Influencers and The Gift Economy

 Hi!!! 

    Welcome back to your favorite blog posts ;) - JK I just thought it would be appropriate to sound like an actual influencer for my introduction. On today's agenda I am going to go deep in the topic of social media influencers and social media in regards to the gift economy. 

    Whoever is currently reading this post, I want you to think of your all time favorite social media influencer or your current favorite influencer. Questions I have learned to ask myself about these people are - "why do I like this person?", "why do I follow this person?", or "how does this person influence me specifically?". These are all good questions I would have never thought to ask myself, and they are probably questions you may have not thought about either. For starters, I am going to tell you a little bit about my favorite influencer - her name is Kylie Ross. I started following Kylie Ross almost two years ago and I can honestly say I don't remember the specific reason for why I followed her. Kylie used to play soccer at The University of Baylor, which I am guessing is what initially drew my attention to her (because soccer players are dope - ME - I am also a soccer player). Over the last year I have invested a little more time in Kylie's content than I would for most social media influencers. What I really like about Kylie is how authentic she is, she is very raw and honest - which are things that I love most about all people. Kylie and I also have the same interests in fitness, fashion, and we are pretty close in age - which makes it so much easier to relate to her. The next question to ask yourself would be, "how do you actually know when a person is being honest and authentic?" - an example for Kylie would be how she openly talks about her faith and religion, she shares personal information about her relationships, and she is very open in talking about her failures in life. Most influencers that I used to follow were not comfortable talking about religion on their platforms, so when I see an influencer posting their beliefs on social media - I respect that. Also, I feel as if most influencers have a specific way they post which is more "picture perfect" rather than their everyday lives. 

    In regards to social media, the gift economy is a way that people can influence a brand by giving them a better status instead of physically giving them something. An example of the gift economy on social media would be sharing, liking, or commenting on someone's post. Girls do this ALL the time - they will text their friends and say something like "go show my picture some love" (I absolutely hate that >:(). There are times where I do share things for the benefit of someone else, like one of my friends just opened her own online boutique - so as her friend, I gave her a shout out so she could get more followers. That example kinda takes me back to middle school days where EVERYONE would post "shoutout posts'', which I would never have thought of as a "gift". Now let's go back to my favorite influencer, Kylie Ross, something I have caught myself doing is I will watch all of her YouTube videos AND I will like and subscribe to all them. This is weird for me because I am not a Youtube person whatsoever, so the question is "why do I do it"? Obviously the content she is posting is entertaining but I am not gaining anything for myself personally. I have realized that I watch and subscribe to her because I just like her as a person, not really because I am interested in whatever workout video she just posted - meaning I am actually involved in the social media gift economy (MIND BLOWN)!! Another reason that I do this for Kylie is because she is actually one of the few influencers who respond to people's dm's - well maybe not everyone, but she responds to me which makes me feel ~ cool ~. Now I wouldn't say this makes me feel obligated to engage in the social media gift economy, but it definitely makes me feel like I am supporting someone. 

    In today's society, being authentic can be really hard. Personally I feel as if society has grown to be more open-minded, but also way more judgmental at the same time. Building an authentic brand can be hard when you are constantly feeling the pressure of not being good enough or always comparing yourself to others. I know for me it would be hard to receive ugly comments or mean private messages when all you're trying to do is hustle to make a name for yourself. So I guess the next time you're on social media, at least do your favorite influencer a solid and show them a little extra love, or give them a gift I should say ;)!