Digital Trust 4 of 4

Hello and Welcome to the last instalment of my blog series being part of my autoethnography research!

Throughout my research, I have looked at two different influencers highlighted in my original field site map, each of which have provided me with different insights into what it means to be part of an audience and the trust we place on influencers.

Findings:

I found I used both my phone and laptop browser to view both Instagram and YouTube content however I found I used my phone 83% of the time. Through external research I found that on average, there are 1,000,000,000 mobile video views per day on YouTube. This finding can be due to the accessibility it allows viewers to have. I also noted that I watched their YouTube content more so in the evening and their Instagram content throughout the day.

(https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/youtube-stats/)

I found the world of Social Media has changed from when I first started watching YouTube to now, in regard to both the influencers I watch and the content style I’m drawn to. Although many people are drawn to online videos rather than live TV it has become more of a hub for media niches to form, thus fan-bases are created. This can be due to the accessibility to comment to each other on the media platforms and the widespread accessibility of fan forums, blogs and Facebook groups. Although I don't talk online with other people in my media niche, I personally speak with friends about several influencers, which is just another way of communicating to that social network hub.

For the purpose of the research I became an active audience member to both influencers which exposed me to both praising fan-pages and negative cancel culture. I found both of these quite interesting. To see someone set up a fan page for someone they have never met or personally know and yet be so ‘in love’ with them is thought-provoking. And on the opposite end of that is the idea that a group of people can comment negative, hateful comments on forums about someone they have never met or personally know. The biggest question is why?

I briefly examined the two-step flow communication theory developed by Katz and Lazarsfeld. The theory claims that inter-personal communication is more powerful in affecting attitudes of individuals compared to mass media. Although this theory was more targeted toward political leaders at the time, I believe it has some relevance in the world of influencers.

Through sponsorships and affialiates, brands are able to filter through to their target market by choosing influencers that suit their product or service. Using influencers that are well-known and and are positively situated in social media can gain attraction to their product. Especially when their audiences praise the individual’s ‘honesty’ and ‘relatability’ through their content. As an active audience member, I’ve found a certain level of trust and credibility to their life and persona these influencers have placed online. These connections whether it be attitudinal, emotional and behavioural, the influencers have that lead me to purchase products, take advice or be motivated by their experiences. In my own opinion I believe I can make these connections due to the way they carry themselves through social media. Though this research has also exposed that there are people who don’t necessarily see this trust and credibility which has led to ‘cancel culture’ and negative forums.

The goal of this research was to evaluate the idea of trust by being an active audience member of two influencers and I believe I have achieved this throughout these four blog posts. I also believe that this research has allowed myself to understand the wide range of differing opinions of an audience and the way they interact with the influencers and other likeminded audience members.

I do feel that this study should be conducted further, however, including more participation to see if any of these results are consistent among a wider range of people.

Thanks for tuning in for my ethnographic research study, Live and Laugh,