Constructing Authenticity: Social Media Influencers and the Shaping of Online Identity

Abstract

This chapter explores the construction of authenticity by social media influencers. Understood to include attributes and practices such as sincerity, trustworthiness, accuracy, originality, spontaneity, and visibility, influencer authenticity is complex. We argue that the perceived authenticity of influencers can create virtual communities through shared identities and experiences, has the power to impact followers’ actions such as purchases and beliefs, and is often contradictory as influencers navigate their opposing roles as both proponents for consumption and facilitators of social connection. Further, we discuss the ways in which ideas about authenticity are central to the digital labor that influencers perform, and that authenticity, as it is enacted, possesses a complex ethics. We conclude with a discussion of how social media authenticity is further complicated in the wake of advancements in generative artificial intelligence that produce cultural content whose veracity is difficult to determine.

1. Introduction

Authenticity is integral to human identity. It helps to forge relationships with others, often out of a mutual connection of similarities, interests, and most importantly trust. Authenticity remains relevant in the digital age as a vital dimension of online identity that shapes perceptions of the self and others. What makes someone or something authentic? This chapter explores authenticity and online identity in social media with a focus on the communicative practices and effects of social media influencers.

We argue that authenticity in the context of social media influencers is complex. The perceived authenticity of social media influencers can create virtual communities through shared experiences and identities, has the power to impact the actions of followers (e.g., purchases, beliefs, and behaviors), and is often contradictory as influencers navigate their opposing roles as both proponents for consumption and facilitators of social connection. Further, we discuss how ideas about authenticity are central to the digital labor that influencers perform, and that authenticity, as it is enacted, possesses a complex ethics. We conclude with a discussion of how social media authenticity is further complicated in the wake of advancements in generative artificial intelligence that produce cultural content whose veracity is difficult to determine and offer recommendations to ameliorate these challenges.

2. Authenticity, influencers, and social media

What is authenticity? How does authenticity relate to online identity, particularly for social media influencers? As a general concept and practice, authenticity is difficult to pin down. It may involve ethical considerations, the alignment of values with behaviors, or transparency in relational exchanges. However, some scholars, such as Ebster and Guist [1], contend that authenticity cannot be objectively determined and is impossible to define because it is context-dependent and ideologically driven.

In social media, authenticity is often understood as the performance of a persona. That is, authenticity is mediated through digital tools and social media affordances to produce an “edited persona” [2]. In this formulation, authenticity takes the form of a public “face” or personality that is socially constructed and put forth in digital interactions often by a social media influencer. Social media influencers are people who leverage their online popularity in exchange for money, goods, and services. The number of persons who work as social media influencers has grown significantly [3]. Their ability to shape the perspectives and behaviors of their followers makes them attractive to advertising agencies who recruit influencers based on their proximity to audiences, level of engagement, lifestyle, glamor, and content reach [4]. Influencers are usually aligned with marketing campaigns and corporate brands that serve the interests of the organizations that sponsor them [5].

As part of a marketing apparatus, social media influencer authenticity is defined as the extent to which a commercial brand’s products and services match the expectations of the consumers who purchase and use the products that are promoted [6]. One advertising executive describes the desired effects of influencer authenticity as “visual press releases because you get to see all the specifications of a product captured in a real situation … [Influencers] bind the brand to their lifestyle” ([4], p. 578). Many social media influencers exist in this space. They engage in digital strategies to shape their personas, grow their audience of followers, and craft content and messages for the purpose of influence marketing. As such, influencers mediate the boundaries of commercial interests with their own self-interests.

However, mediating the parameters of commercial interests along with influencers’ own priorities is complex. Influencers can be seen as tastemakers who carry out the dual roles of both “promoters of consumption, and marshals of ‘authentic’ sociality and community” ([4], p. 568). The concept of “influencer imaginaries” provides insight into the ways in which social media influencers navigate these opposing dynamics of presenting an authentic self while advertising on behalf of commercial brands. “The influencer imaginary [explains] how individuals experience and justify the commodification of the self and forms of knowledge as subject to valuation in markets when they communicate their brands” ([4], p. 568). In other words, influencers see themselves as promoters of their own personas, and as persons who possess differentiated cultural capital that enables them to “occupy an authoritative space” in which to “promote consumption naturally” in ways that may be different from the expectations of advertisers ([4], p. 581).

Social media influencers exert their autonomy–and construct their authenticity–by making decisions about which products they will market, how they will do so, and what they will communicate, effectively establishing limits on the interests of brands. As one social media influencer put it, “I rejected a lot of content that has nothing to do with me, or the way [advertising] agencies try to do things” ([4], p. 581). Influencers assert their individual autonomy in ways that are congruent with the ethos and persona of their self-brand to maintain their authenticity with followers and thereby reconcile the contradictions of their position.

For the followers of social media influencers, authenticity is associated with the performance of particular interpersonal attributes, communication styles, and digital practices. These include sincerity, trustworthiness, accuracy, originality, spontaneity, and visibility [7, 8]. Likewise, when influencers display qualities of realness, visibility, and uniqueness, they are regarded as authentic by their followers [9]. Social media influencers are also perceived by their followers to occupy a wide range of roles that foster and reinforce authenticity. Followers regard influencers as opinion leaders, esthetic trendsetters, and even experts and celebrities [10]. In addition to these exceptional characteristics, followers often identify with influencers, seeing them as relatable, everyday people just like themselves [8]. To carry out the accomplishment of such diverse facets of their personas with their followers, the perception of influencers as authentic is vital.

In the next sections, we elucidate the construction of authenticity by social media influencers and offer examples to illuminate some of the key issues and contractions in this form of online identity. Our discussion focuses on four themes:

1. The perceived authenticity of social media influencers can create virtual communities through shared experiences, identities, and socio-emotional support.

2. Social media influencer authenticity has the power to impact the actions of followers such as purchases, beliefs, and behaviors.

3. Further, we discuss how ideas about authenticity are central to the digital labor that influencers perform, and that authenticity, as it is enacted, possesses a complex ethics.

4. We conclude with a discussion of how social media authenticity is further complicated in the wake of advancements in generative artificial intelligence that produce cultural content whose veracity is difficult to determine.

3. Constructing influencer authenticity to build trust and community

The construction of authenticity by social media influencers entails a range of communicative strategies. These strategies work to build a persona of authenticity and establish trust with followers. Influencer interactivity–i.e., the modes of communication and frequency of communication that an influencer has with their followers–“increases followers’ perception of influencer authenticity and [builds] emotional attachment [between the influencer and their followers]” ([11], p. 810). Influencers also establish trust and reliability with their followers by exhibiting their expertise on a subject, which serves to validate the influencers’ authenticity [12]. Through the combination of regular online interaction and its sustentation, influencers may come to be perceived as reliable sources of information and trusted experts, a communicative dynamic that builds followers’ perception of influencer authenticity.

Influencer trust and authenticity are further established through parasocial relationships with followers. Parasocial relationships are relational associations in which media users feel as though they have a personal connection with public media figures. In social media, parasocial relationships are “a mediated, one-sided form of social interaction” between an influencer and their followers ([13], p. 1211). Although they can be one-sided and unreciprocated, parasocial relationships are meaningful to followers who often regard influencers as acquaintances and even friends.

Other strategies that influencers use to construct authenticity involve creating content that contains large blocks of text in which influencers share experiences from their personal lives, contributing to the “narrative character” that followers consume and interact with ([14], p. 1331). Narrative character refers to the virtual persona of the influencer and how that persona connects with the lived experience of followers in ways that make them view the influencer as an exemplary role model ([14], p. 1329). For example, social media influencer Katie Sturino, a body-positive influencer with over 800 K Instagram followers, creates posts and videos that showcase her personal experiences of being a plus-sized woman who enjoys fashion. Her social media content ranges from honest reviews about the problems of extended-size clothing carried by various brands, to candid discussions about her own changing body as she ages, to broader critiques of mainstream media portrayals of women’s bodies.

Regularly platforming her personal trials, tribulations, and triumphs of living life as a plus-size woman, Sturino shares Instagram video reels with captions such as “I’ll never forget when I got called fat at the club in my 20s” [15]. Sturino then engages directly with the flood of comments from followers in which they articulate heartfelt descriptions of how Sturino’s experiences match their own, expressing personal vulnerabilities that they had kept secret until they had reached out to Sturino. Followers also voice their desire to emulate the positive attitude that Sturino has about her body. Sturino’s messages offer followers an alternative perspective of body positivity that reframes followers’ negative body experiences, gaining Sturino the status of a role model. Followers perceive Sturino as someone who understands their subject position as plus-size women in a fat-shaming world. The persona and narrative character that Sturio puts forward demonstrates her willingness to self-disclose her experiences in a forthright and transparent manner, thus building interpersonal connections, trust, and perceived authenticity with followers.

Communicative dynamics and interactions such as these have the power to create virtual communities. Influencers function as catalysts for the establishment of an interactive communicative dynamic in which participants construct their identities and build interpersonal relationships [4]. Virtual communities, and the relational dynamics associated with them, offer an avenue for followers to understand themselves and their experiences in new ways while gaining a sense of belonging as part of a community. Excitement and a sense of community may be sparked when people come together to produce a common identity, harkening back to Durkheim’s concept of “collective effervescence” where individuals participate in the expression of collective understandings with a sense of belonging. Influencers often offer spaces for social and emotional support where self-disclosure and intimate conversations occur between individual followers and between an influencer and their followers. Influencers can create spaces for the discussion of taboo topics, offer new perspectives, and validate the lived experiences of their followers. The give-and-take of interpersonal connections such as these can foster trust, reinforce authenticity, and build community.

4. Leveraging influencer authenticity to shape follower behavior

In addition to building community, influencer trust and authenticity can be used to shape followers’ actions for the consumption of goods and services [7]. Trust can “[cause] followers to perceive the recommended product or service more positively and [increase] purchase intent. [Further, follower] trust in the influencer is powerful enough to affect the followers’ opinions and behaviors” ([12], p. 229). This is especially true when the sponsored product is perceived to align with an influencer’s social media persona. When influencers post content that is sponsored by a company whose brand identity is in accord with the influencer’s ethos, the content may have “a positive impact on advertising behavioral outcomes such as purchase intention” ([8], p. 237). But follower trust cannot be taken for granted by influencers. Rather, it must be carefully managed to garner its benefits. “Frequent, unfaithful, or provocative [influencer] postings that are made simply to increase the number of followers do not help strengthen emotional ties with followers and their trust in the brand” ([11], p. 810). In fact, such opportunistic strategies may backfire, and cause followers to question an influencer’s authenticity.

The delicate balance between trust, authenticity, and follower purchasing behavior is illustrated in the case of Opalex, a luxury hair-care brand. Opalex cultivated social media attention through financial payments to celebrity influencers (e.g., Kim Kardashian and Drew Barrymore) who then leveraged their stature to market the shampoo and hair care products to their legion of followers. Later, however, many followers complained of hair loss as a result of using the products. Some followers, who contend that they had been negatively impacted, have taken legal action to sue the company [16].

The persons who brought the legal case against Opalex did so not only because of the damage that the products did to their hair, but also because of the company’s lack of transparency about the payments the company made to social media influencers to promote the hair care products:

“The plaintiffs also accuse Olaplex of using celebrities and influencers to market their products, but failing to disclose that they have been paid and that the company claims their products have been tested, but has not publicized those tests, which is “highly suspect,” the complaint says” [16].

Followers were impacted, both physically and financially, by what they had perceived to be authentic promotions of the shampoo by trusted influencers. The Olaplex company claimed that the influencers genuinely used them [17]. The fact that influencers were financially reimbursed, but did not explicitly disclose to followers that the social media posts were advertising, begins to distort the image of the influencers’ authenticity. However, rather than being upset with the influencers, most followers lashed out at Olaplex. What is most interesting about this example is that followers were more upset about the lack of disclosure by influencers about the payments, than they were about the fact that the celebrity influencers used their platforms to sell the product. As this case illustrates, when influencer authenticity is used to promote a product that leads to negative user experiences, it may be the company, and not the influencer, who receives the brunt of follower backlash.

It is possible that followers’ lack of anger at influencers–instead, directing their ire at Olaplex–may be a testament to the strength of the “aura of authenticity” that is often possessed and performed by influencers who are also celebrities [18]. The celebrity aura of authenticity may serve to insulate influencers from being perceived harshly by their followers. It may also be that followers expect that influencers will promote products to their followers. However, followers also hold the expectation that trusted influencers will make known when paid sponsorships occur–precisely because of their perceived authenticity. For followers, a critical aspect of influencer authenticity is transparency.

While transparency is integral to authenticity, if an influencer is not transparent with their followers that does not necessarily mean that trust is lost. Trust between influencers and their followers is built over a period of time through interactivity and consistency. If an influencer is shown not to be fully transparent, followers may still regard the influencer as a trusted and reliable source because of their long-term association with the influencer. In such circumstances, followers may choose to continue the online connection despite the influencer’s momentary transgression of transparency. Thus there may be durability to influencer authenticity, particularly for celebrities.

5. Leveraging influencer authenticity for social change

Beyond shaping the purchasing behavior of followers, influencer authenticity can be leveraged in ways that invite followers to consider an ideology or become involved in a social movement [19]. Just as influencers play a role in creating communities online, they also possess the capacity to gather followers who share a passion for social change [20]. Through their online content, influencers can educate and mobilize followers to take action for social change both online and offline. For example, influencers may repost online content that encourages followers to sign a digital petition. Influencers may also shape followers’ offline actions for social change by distributing information about in-person local protests and urging followers to attend. By leveraging the authenticity of their online persona, influencers encourage followers to learn about issues and social movements, take action, and potentially instigate social change.

Leveraging influencer authenticity for social change is demonstrated in the interactions between social media influencer Pattie Gonia and their 554 K Instagram followers. “A drag queen, intersectional environmentalist, and ‘professional homosexual,’” Pattie Gonia marshals their authenticity to shape public discourse for social and political goals. Pattie Gonia, and the individual behind their persona, the drag performer Wyn Wiley, use their platform and visibility to encourage their audience to support initiatives and fundraisers for social and environmental justice [20].

On ‘Giving Tuesday’, November 30th, 2021, Pattie Gonia commenced an online fundraiser with the tagline, ‘A Fundraiser That’s Not A Drag’. ‘Giving Tuesday’ refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States and the day is heralded as a “global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world” [21]. In their original post on Instagram, Pattie Gonia reached out to followers with the challenge to see how much money could be raised in 1 week promising that they [Pattie Gonia] will personally make a donation for every like, share, and comment the post receives. The funds would go to five (5) non-profit organizations that seek to make outdoor recreational activities more accessible to LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized people. Pattie Gonna closed the message with their self-brand slogan “from me to you, make the outdoors gay again” [22].

Through leveraging their influence across their social media platforms, Pattie Gonia raised $541,534 for five (5) nonprofit organizations with social justice goals including organizations that encourage LGBTQIA+ youth and people from marginalized backgrounds to gain empowerment by acquiring skills and knowledge about outdoor sports and recreational activities. The fundraisers also provided support for organizations that advocate for environmental responsibility through community engagement. The fundraiser was revisited in 2022 and successfully crowd-funded $428,178 to support ten (10) diverse outdoor nonprofit organizations that offer opportunities for outdoor recreational activities to persons from marginalized groups [23].

Pattie Gonia’s followers were instrumental in the success of the fundraisers. Followers raised the majority of funds through a variety of strategies including direct donations by followers, by followers pairing up with businesses who matched the followers’ donations, or by followers–some of whom were unable to donate–sharing the social media posts with others who were able to make a contribution. In this instance, although Pattie Gonia monetized their authenticity, they did so not solely for their own financial gain, but rather to promote social change through grassroots fundraising.

6. Aligning influencer authenticity with paid promotions

Like other social media influencers, Pattie Gonia also partners with businesses and organizations to promote products. The collaborations are usually beneficial for businesses because they establish new connections between the companies and an untapped pool of potential consumers. It is also positive for the influencer because the partnership can help grow their audience. Pattie Gonia uses their influencer persona for marketing messages and promotions on behalf of companies in ways that are similar to the Olaplex celebrity influencers alluded to earlier. However, an important distinction between the Olaplex celebrity influencers and Pattie Gonia is that Pattie Gonia explicitly states to their online community when a message is a paid promotion. The companies that work with Pattie Gonia support this transparency in messaging because they seek to market themselves as aligned with the environmentalism (e.g., climate action) and LGBTQIA+ positive communities that Pattie Gonia represents. Pattie Gonia’s direct statements about paid promotions create a communicative space that followers perceive to be authentic as they transparently connect products and services to potential consumers.

Additionally, Pattie Gonia clarifies with followers their policy to work only with companies that are in common cause with their persona and messaging around social change for environmentalism and LGBTQIA+ representation in outdoor recreational activities–a space not typically associated with the LGBTQIA+ community. This carefully arranged allyship between the commercial interests of companies with the financial self-interest of the influencer creates conditions in which followers are unlikely to question the authenticity of the influencer’s actions. The interests of the influencer and the interests of the followers are in alignment. Like Pattie Gonia, and the companies Pattie Gonia promotes, followers similarly prioritize environmentalism and LGBTQIA+ representation. Such an alliance between an influencer, a commercial company, and followers may bolster followers’ perceptions of influencer authenticity as followers regard the influencer to be a reliable source of information and a trusted expert.

However, collaborations with large companies and organizations are not without backlash. Unlike the grassroots fundraising work that was successfully achieved with Pattie Gonia’s loyal online audience, product collaborations with corporate interests can open an influencer–particularly a vocal LGBTQIA+ influencer like Pattie Gonia–to criticism from mainstream audiences. After Pattie Gonia partnered with The North Face for a widely distributed video advertisement campaign for the company’s June 2023 ‘Summer of Pride’ line to mark LGBTQIA+ pride month, both Pattie Gonia and the company received vehement criticism online from public citizens and politicians [23], but not from Pattie Gonia’s follower base.

Despite calls to boycott The North Face and other negative messages which centered around homophobic conservative viewpoints and climate denial, both Pattie Gonia and The North Face reaffirmed their commitment to the partnership, speaking publicly against the negative response. In a statement to the magazine Grist, The North Face affirmed:

“The North Face has always believed the outdoors should be a welcoming, equitable, and safe place for all. We are honored and grateful to support partners like Pattie Gonia who help make this vision a reality. The ‘Summer of Pride’ series, now in its second year, has helped foster a more accessible and welcoming environment for individuals from all backgrounds to gather and experience the joy of the outdoors” [24].

Similarly, Pattie Gonia asserted their determination to stand by their beliefs and maintain the collaboration with The North Face stating, “Climate action is intimately intertwined with making the outdoors accessible” [24]. Pattie Gonia’s declaration is consistent with their expressed commitments in other platform messaging about environmentalism and LGBTQIA+ representation. Such reinvigorated and uncompromising resolve may serve to strengthen Pattie Gonia’s perceived authenticity by their followers and, perhaps, generate new consumers for The North Face.

Although the collaboration between Pattie Gonia and The North Face resulted in a positive outcome due to their mutual solidarity, such outcomes are not guaranteed. Corporations may cut ties with influencers when public reactions turn negative. The social media advertising campaign for the brand Bud Light which featured transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led some members of the public to call for a boycott. The backlash resulted in a drop in sales, two company executives being placed on leave, and ceased collaboration with the influencer [25]. In both scenarios–Pattie Gonia and The North Face and Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light–the influencers sought to be authentic and align their influence with a like-minded business. The companies aimed to enlist the influencers’ authenticity for marketing and increased sales. However, as occurred in the collaboration between Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney, when a conflict arose in the marketing strategy, the company jettisoned the influencer to protect its bottom line.

Advertisement deals with for-profit corporations can benefit influencers financially, but it is important to consider how the collaborations can impact the perceived authenticity of the influencer and their relationship with their followers. Regular monetization of influencer authenticity through financial collaborations can feed influencers’ parasocial relationships with their followers by shaping followers purchasing behavior. However, collaborations are just one tool in the influencers’ tool kit. Maintaining a balance between posting content for marketing campaigns with sharing personal experiences to foster community contributes to the ongoing work that is necessary to cultivate an influencer’s online authenticity.

7. Influencer authenticity as digital labor with a complex ethics

The discussion above suggests a further dynamic about social media influencer authenticity. Authenticity is work. As a form of digital labor, authenticity is something that must be continuously accomplished in order to maintain its status and effects with followers. Social media influencers perform “authenticity labor” as “ideological intermediaries who promote a lifestyle [for their followers] to be inspired by, and aspire to” ([26], p. 528). The digital labor of authenticity is part of the “influencer industry” in which authenticity is monetized. Influencers earn compensation, and even a living, by monetizing “an authentic life, [rather than] embodying it” ([27], p. 5). As labor, authenticity is commodified for the monetary benefit of an influencer, brand, company, charity, cause, or another recipient.

Further, the labor of influencer authenticity has a complex ethics. Often the notion of authenticity, itself, is used as an ethical framework by influencers who assert that being true to one’s self, one’s brand, and one’s followers constitutes an ethics of authenticity ([28], p. 68). Such influencer self-perceptions of authenticity are multifaceted. In a theoretical framework for understanding how influencers perceive their own authenticity [8], influencers identified the attributes of sincerity, expertise, uniqueness, commitment to values, mediated realness, visibility, communication style, spontaneity, transparent and creative brand endorsement, commitment to followers, and frequency of interaction as key elements that constitute authenticity.

When caught between the contradictory goals of sponsoring content and being authentic, influencers manage these disparate goals through the use of two strategies: transparent authenticity and passionate authenticity [29]. The strategy of transparent authenticity is evident when influencers openly reveal that the content is sponsored, communicate facts and information about the product, and/or publish posts that are raw and unedited. Such strategies temper the advertising aspects of the communications by infusing them with interpersonal relational dynamics that are perceived to be authentic by their followers. Conversely, influencers can be understood to use the strategy of passionate authenticity when they post content that is not sponsored but rather something personal and/or that they experience as fun and enjoyable. This strategy offers followers another type of content and demonstrates that the influencers’ communication is not solely limited to marketing. When used in tandem, the two strategies balance the tensions between the influencer’s persona as a seller and the influencer’s persona as human, relatable, and authentic.

8. Performing influencer labor of authenticity

The intricacies associated with how social media influencers perform the labor of authenticity and its associated ethics are illustrated in the marketing practices of Shein. Started in 2008 by Chris Xu in Nanjing, China, and now one of the world’s largest fast-fashion online clothing brands selling dresses for U.S $10 and tops for U.S. $5, Shein utilized the labor of six (6) young, female, social media influencers to cloak their fast-fashion reputation. The influencers included Dani Carbonari (481 K Instagram followers), Destene Sudduth (385 K Instagram followers), Aujené (1 M Instagram followers), Fernanda Stephany Campuzano (38.2 K Instagram followers), Kenya Freeman (31.6 K Instagram followers), and Marina Saavedra (3.8 K Instagram followers). These influencers exemplify Shein’s core marketing strategy which focuses on influencers with moderately-sized online followers–micro-celebrities–who “are compensated with free clothes that they show off in #SheinHaul videos, trips, or per-post payments” [30].

Shein invited the influencers to participate in an all-expenses-paid trip to its facilities in China. The goal was for influencers to use their authenticity to communicate with followers in ways that put a more favorable public face on the company’s controversial fast-fashion manufacturing practices [31]. Investigations have revealed that Shein engages in human rights violations, forced labor and child labor, pollution and environmental degradation, as well as the use of unsafe chemicals such as phthalates, lead, and PFAS in the production of its clothing [32, 33]. PFAS refers to more than 12,000 per- and poly-fluoroalkyl toxic forever chemicals linked to cancer that persist in the environment and build up in the body. Shein’s recruitment of social media influencers was part of the company’s broader effort to revamp its image ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO) listing on the U.S. stock exchange which also included moving the company’s headquarters from China to Singapore [34].

Influencer marketing company founder, James Nord, explained how his agency leveraged the fashion influencers’ authenticity for corporate interests by taking the influencers on the all-expenses-paid trip to tour a highly curated subset of Shein’s facilities in Guangzhou, China [35]. Influencers were told that they would have the opportunity to view first-hand the factory conditions where Shein garments were assembled. The goal was, as Nord states, to have the influencers communicate with their audiences to “tell the stories that maybe they have a hard time telling themselves” [35].

Initially, Shein’s marketing strategy appeared to work as intended. During and after the trip, the influencers’ social media posts often read like corporate press releases. One influencer gushed that the experience was “one of the most life-changing trips of my life,” because it enabled her to “be an independent thinker, get the facts and see it with her own eyes” [35]. Other influencers used corporate feel-good hashtags and language including “#Shein101” and “supply chain empowerment” [35]. Another influencer publicized Instagram posts that dismissed claims about Shein’s labor exploitation: “When asking a few of the workers & employees about these topics [child labor and fair wages] everyone we came across was content with their salary and the idea of child labor was something they looked at me crazy for y’all” [35]. Similarly, the Shein brand weighed in with Instagram captions that invoked influencer authenticity to justify the company’s orchestration of the influencers’ trip: “Their [the influencers’] social media videos and commentary are authentic, and we respect and stand by each influencer’s perspective and voice on their experience” [35].

However, labor critics, fast-fashion experts, and many of the influencers’ followers were not amused. They swiftly and strongly expressed their dissatisfaction with the influencers’ characterization of the company critiquing its exploitative labor practices and environmental destruction: “How do you call yourself an ‘activist’ while accepting brand deals/money from a corporation that is ruining people’s lives and the environment?” [36]. Calling out influencer Dani Carbonari, a plus-size fashion model who advocates for size inclusivity in fashion and describes herself as a “confidence activist,” another follower wrote: “[Carbonari] goes on a paid brand trip and gets brainwashed lol cannot believe how blind you are to all of this. You did not do any research whatsoever. so sad, influencers are the downfall of social media” [36]. Other followers argued that the influencers simply parroted Shein’s public relations talking points. Some followers called the influencers’ posts propaganda noting that the influencers toured the company’s “innovation center” not their factories or warehouses. In the wake of the criticism, many influencers deleted their social media posts that featured the sponsored Shein trip.

However, for the influencer Carbonari, this incident was far from over. Follower criticism went on to address the influencers’ transgression of their authenticity, particularly in relation to their community of followers:

“you didn’t need to do research just look at their business model to know they can’t possibly be sustainable or ethical. Why say you weren’t paid when they paid for travel and accommodation? Why pretend the only people angered by this are people who ‘don’t know you and your authentic heart’ I’ve been a fan of you before but this shows a clear lack of support for women, sustainability, and fellow creators that it’s impossible to claim your intentions were good” [36].

Followers called for Carbonari to admit responsibility: “Where is the apology for actively promoting a brand that does so much social, ethical, and environmental damage?” [36]. As criticism escalated, Carbonari apologized to her followers, saying that she made a mistake and that she terminated her promotional work with the Shein brand. Speaking to her community, Carbonari framed her apology using the collective language of ‘we’ saying, “I let us down.” “I did us wrong.” “I led us down the wrong path” [36].

Carbonari performs the labor of authenticity–specifically, the labor of relational repair—as she works to claim her authenticity once more with her followers. Through phrasing her apology in the collective terms of ‘we’ and ‘us’, Carbonari seeks to reestablish her connection with her followers. She imparts that she is one of them and that their interests are her interests. She also asserts her central leadership role in the community through her statement “I led us down the wrong path” [36]. In addition, her words convey that she regards the interests of the community above her own self-interest and financial gain. Although she could have profited from her association with Shein, she tells her followers that the preservation and integrity of their relationship take priority. As a result, she broke off her affiliation with Shein.

The influencer’s apology goes even further in its efforts to perform the labor of relational repair to (re)construct authenticity. Carbonari states that, after taking some time off, she will “return stronger to continue the fight for us” [36]. Her apology works to reassert her authenticity as she insists that her actions are not for herself but on behalf of the shared interests of the community. Indeed, she vows to come back more powerfully to spearhead their shared struggle for equity in plus-size fashion. The message is that she can be trusted because her integrity on behalf of the community has been demonstrated. As such, her authenticity with her followers is restored.

9. Authenticity in the (near) future

Authenticity in social media faces new challenges. In the wake of advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT, Bard, DALI, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, MusicLM, and others, notions about authenticity are further complicated. Generative AI produces cultural content (e.g., images, text, audio) whose veracity and authorship are difficult to determine. In this context, social media influence may be enacted through new forms. Influencers may be human or nonhuman types of artificial intelligence, such as chatbots that appear to be human or deep fakes (i.e., synthetic representations of people, events, and objects) that appear to be genuine.

Authenticity is ambiguous, and potentially detrimental, across a range of AI-generated visual, audio, and textual media. These, in turn, can be used to influence followers and audiences. For example, artworks submitted to fine art competitions have turned out to be created by artificial intelligence [37]. Deep fake audios have been deployed using the cloned human voices of popular influencers and celebrities in ways that may hold sway over their fans. The cloned voices of respected reporters, writers, journalists, and others may be used to garner authority for messages and increase their persuasive appeal [38]. Anyone could use these technologies to represent themselves and others in a misleading and artificial manner. All that is required is a short audio clip of a human voice and a voice-cloning program.

The authenticity of textual representations is also increasingly opaque. In the wake of a shooting at Michigan State University in which three students were killed, university administrators at Vanderbilt University reached out with a letter of solace to students extolling the virtues of a campus ethic of care with supportive and inclusive relationships among the university community. The letter was signed by two university administrators with a line of text in small print at the end of the letter that read: “Paraphrase from OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication” [39]. The administrators later apologized for their “poor judgment” after students raised objections to the letter calling it “disgusting” and urged the “deans, provosts, and chancellor to do more. Do anything. Lead us into a better future with genuine, human empathy, not a robot” [39].

Authenticity is changing, perhaps even disappearing. Certainly, it is harder to verify. How can we know that what we are interacting with is true? We may be moving into a new era of social media influence, coupled with sophisticated forms of artificial intelligence, that may result in uneven effects.

As we move into the uncertain future, the verification of influencer authenticity becomes a pressing issue. Drawing on the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, we identify and discuss four proposed actions to strengthen authenticity in social media [40]. These include:

1. efforts toward transparency

2. new ways to build trust

3. the reduction of harm

4. superspreader accountability

Our recommendations focus not only on the practices of individual social media influencers but also on the responsibilities of social media platforms where content is distributed and amplified. The strategies also take into account social media users, providing them with courses of action to gain agency as they interact with influencer messages. Too often, in the current social media landscape, users are mostly in the dark as to how, for example, algorithms and platform affordances shape the content that they receive. Users usually have little recourse to resist or alter these platform dynamics in meaningful ways. Although we discuss each of these four strategies in the context of social media influencers and authenticity, we note that these proposed actions are also relevant to the larger challenge of determining the veracity of digitally mediated information more broadly.

Efforts toward transparency are the first strategy. As alluded to above, ensuring influencer authenticity is not just a problem for influencers and their followers, but also a responsibility for social media platforms because platforms are the means through which content is disseminated and reinforced. Efforts toward transparency necessitate that social media platforms change their practices in three significant ways:

1. publish the source account, content, and reach data for posts that platforms deliver to large audiences

2. disclose platform content moderation policies and practices with time-limited archives available in a standardized format to researchers

3. disclose, in a standard format, key information about advertisements and paid posts, including political ads

The second strategy focuses on building trust. Building trust involves a focus on healthy digital discourse in which digital tools and social platforms are reimagined and “used to support civic purposes and operated by public service organizations.. not just as an ‘alternative’, but as a disruptive force to the dominant platforms” ([40], p. 47). Examples of new tools include Pol.is, The Local Voices Network, and Front Porch Forum. Other important elements for building trust that foster authenticity in social media include investment in local media to inform and empower citizens, and the establishment of social norms of accountability in which community, corporate, professional, and political leaders institute personal and professional consequences for persons “who willfully violate the public trust and use their privilege to harm the public” ([40], p. 54–7).

The third strategy, reduction in harm, calls for civic empowerment. Social media users need to have accurate knowledge about where influencer content comes from so that they can make informed decisions about its authenticity. It is vital that people “understand how information reaches them via influencers, algorithms, networks; why spotting misleading information is critical; and what they can do to address the issue of misinformation” ([40], p. 67). To achieve the civic empowerment required for the meaningful reduction of harm, platform companies must do more to be open about how information flows on their networks.

Fourth, and finally, is the idea and practice of superspreader accountability. Superspreader accountability means that the persons responsible for the creation and distribution of inauthentic information be held accountable. This strategy operates both at the level of the individual influencer who must be vigilant regarding the authenticity of their content, and at the level of the social media platform that would be responsible for enforcing accountability. Superspreader accountability would focus on influencers of all stripes and would hold them to high standards of trustworthiness due to their outsized persuasive power.

“These [persons with] influential and often ‘verified’ accounts function as both content producers and amplifiers. They include elected officials, hyper-partisan media outlets and pundits, and other social media influencers, driven by political objectives and/or financial motives and benefits. Taken together, it is a group of actors who are uniquely identifiable and uniquely necessary to hold to a high standard of scrutiny” ([40], p. 69).

To carry out superspreader accountability, platforms must take responsibility. Social media platforms would be required to implement and enforce policies around authenticity as well as mis- and disinformation. The aim is for a swift response and penalty that is applied to those responsible for mis- and disinformation in ways that are commensurate with its impacts on society. Implementation of these four strategies would make a significant contribution toward authenticity in digital communications.

10. Conclusion

This chapter explored some of the ways in which authenticity is constructed and leveraged by social media influencers with consideration of its contradictions, complexities, and effects. The discussion focused on four (4) areas of social media influencer authenticity: (1) Influencer authenticity can contribute to the formation of networked communities as influencers may be perceived as role models, tastemakers, trusted experts, leaders, and celebrities by their followers. (2) The relational connections and authenticity that are established between influencers and their followers can be leveraged to promote the consumption of goods and services and also used as a strategy to advance social change. (3) Authenticity is central to the digital labor that influencers perform as they mediate the commercial interests of marketing campaigns and sponsors while simultaneously enacting relational authenticity with followers making the influencer role fraught with complexity. 4) Authenticity in digital communication is increasingly difficult to discern. In the wake of the increased ubiquity of artificial intelligence, the enactment and verification of authenticity will likely continue to shift and change in the future.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.