No filter: navigating well-being in troubled times as social media influencers

ABSTRACT

Social media influencers have the ability to impact the behaviours and attitudes of others (i.e. their followers), affecting people’s feelings of connectedness, and well-being. This has become particularly apparent during troubled times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted the importance of relationships and social interactions for people’s well-being. However, less attention has been paid to influencers’ own well-being in a monetised attention economy, which imposes tensions between the desire for authenticity and the self-presentations of influencers in online interactions. Using in-depth interviews and netnography as methodology, in this study we examine how the decision to engage with the topic of COVID-19 on social media impacted influencers’ well-being during the pandemic. We build on self-determination theory to reveal how the contentious nature of the subject led to internal struggles of influencers’ self-presentation, and elucidate how influencers navigated the boundaries of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in a quest for well-being.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media influencers
• troubled times
• COVID-19
• well-being
• self-determination theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the MacEwan School of Business.

Notes on contributors

Nataly Levesque

Nataly Levesque, PhD, is a lecturer in Marketing in the Faculty of Business Administration (FSA) at Laval University, Canada. Her research interests lie in the field of social psychology of consumer behaviour. Specifically, she studies brand management, focusing on the human brand including the engagement between an influencer and a follower on social media. Her research is supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec-Society and Culture (FRQSC). Nataly holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Montreal and a Master of Science in Marketing from the UQAM-ESG School of Management. Nataly’s research has appeared in Journal of Customer Behavior, Multidisciplinary Business Review, International Journal of Technology Marketing, Revue internationale de pédagogie de l’enseignement supérieur.

Alysha Hachey

Alysha Hachey is a PhD candidate (ABD) in Management at the University of Hawaii. Prior to starting the program, she worked as a Sessional Instructor at MacEwan University for four years. Alysha’s research interests surround social media influencers, family business and entrepreneurship. Her research is supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Alysha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from MacEwan University as well as a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University. Alysha’s research has appeared in Journal of Interactive Advertising and Sage Business Cases.

Albena Pergelova

Albena Pergelova, PhD, is an associate professor at the School of Business, MacEwan University (Canada). Her research is multidisciplinary and spans marketing, entrepreneurship, and international business. Albena’s research has been recognized with numerous awards, among which are the G. Dale Meyer Best Paper Award for the Most Relevant Research in Social Entrepreneurship from the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (2017), Best Paper Award from DIANA International Research conference on women entrepreneurship (2017), Commendable Research Paper Award from the Eastern Academy of Management Annual Meeting (2019), and several Best Paper in Track Awards from the Academy of Marketing (UK). Albena’s research has appeared in a wide range of international journals across disciplines, such as Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Affairs, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Journal of Business Research, International Small Business Journal, Journal of Small Business Management, Journal of Business Ethics, among others.