On repopulating narratives: The work of digital influencers from a socio-technical approach

Abstract

The present study aimed to elaborate a narrative review of the literature on digital influencers and to suggest an analysis inspired by the field of Science and Technology Studies. The thematic literature maintains the explanatory axis of research centered on the figure of the influencer as a producer of action and a user of digital technologies. However, I argue it is possible to perceive the construction of influence on digital platforms as an effect of a vast network of heterogeneous elements and not of just one or more subjects. I propose the work of influencers is only possible when this sociotechnical network is mobilized in such a way that it would be interesting from an analytical point to describe it. The advantages of this approach would be to find answers about how these connections happen and to point to other ways of understanding the associations between subjects and technical mediations.