Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

6700

Date

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Journalism & Strategic Media

Concentration

Journalism

Committee Chair

Jin Yang

Committee Member

Thomas Hrach

Committee Member

Tori Cliff

Abstract

The study compared Instagram posting strategies between celebrities and influencers in terms of subject matter, authenticity, self-disclosure/intimacy, use of sponsored content, and interactions. The method of content analysis was used on a 456-post-sample collected from both celebrity and influencer Instagram posts over the course of one year, i.e. 2019. It found that celebrities and influencers differed in terms of subject matter, authenticity, and intimacy, and influencers tended to be more authentic and self-disclosing than celebrities. Additionally, celebrities and influencers used sponsored content in a similar way, but celebrities’ interactions far outnumbered those of influencers. Both celebrities and influencers posted organic content and both with intimacy in order to grow parasocial relationships with followers, though it is the sponsored content and professional works that take most of their time and efforts.Lastly, influencers added more authenticity and intimacy into their sponsored posts to maintain parasocial relationship with the audience.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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