#Fakefamous: how do influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media?
#Fakefamous: how do influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media?
Purpose: credible influencers play a key role in shaping the views and preferences of social media users. However, many influencers intentionally use disinformation (e.g. false narratives) to deceive users and gain their trust. This can have serious repercussions, not only for the firms that associate with these influencers but also for users. Further, and alarmingly, many influencers who use disinformation can sustain their credibility over time. This research explores how influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media.
Design/methodology/approach: drawing on self-presentation theory, we use an in-depth qualitative case study to address our research question, primarily relying on archival data obtained from multiple sources.
Findings: our findings suggest that three stages of self-presentation are required to establish influencer credibility based on disinformation: backstage (preparing to deceive), experimentation (testing deception), and frontstage (launching deceptive ideas on a large scale). We also find that when fraudulent influencers simultaneously weaponise a counterculture and mindfully encase disinformation, users view them as highly credible.
Practical implications: we offer practical suggestions for regulating fraudulent influencers, including enacting fact-checking procedures, using IT artefacts as reliability signals, and building awareness programmes to develop vigilance in social media communities. Originality/value: We contribute to self-presentation theory by adding experimentation as a critical stage in developing disinformation that works for long periods. We also contribute to the literature at the intersection of social media influencers and disinformation research by revealing why social media users believe in fraudulent influencers.
Counterculture, Credibility, Disinformation, Fraud, Impression management, Influencer marketing, Self-presentation, Social media influencers
Bahar, Varqa Shamsi
9d5ae13c-eb5e-45de-8fa4-0f6437bea872
Hasan, Mahmudul
84f09237-2031-4c24-aa7d-c9593482bd26
Bahar, Varqa Shamsi
9d5ae13c-eb5e-45de-8fa4-0f6437bea872
Hasan, Mahmudul
84f09237-2031-4c24-aa7d-c9593482bd26
Bahar, Varqa Shamsi and Hasan, Mahmudul
(2024)
#Fakefamous: how do influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media?
Information Technology & People.
(doi:10.1108/ITP-05-2023-0421).
Abstract
Purpose: credible influencers play a key role in shaping the views and preferences of social media users. However, many influencers intentionally use disinformation (e.g. false narratives) to deceive users and gain their trust. This can have serious repercussions, not only for the firms that associate with these influencers but also for users. Further, and alarmingly, many influencers who use disinformation can sustain their credibility over time. This research explores how influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media.
Design/methodology/approach: drawing on self-presentation theory, we use an in-depth qualitative case study to address our research question, primarily relying on archival data obtained from multiple sources.
Findings: our findings suggest that three stages of self-presentation are required to establish influencer credibility based on disinformation: backstage (preparing to deceive), experimentation (testing deception), and frontstage (launching deceptive ideas on a large scale). We also find that when fraudulent influencers simultaneously weaponise a counterculture and mindfully encase disinformation, users view them as highly credible.
Practical implications: we offer practical suggestions for regulating fraudulent influencers, including enacting fact-checking procedures, using IT artefacts as reliability signals, and building awareness programmes to develop vigilance in social media communities. Originality/value: We contribute to self-presentation theory by adding experimentation as a critical stage in developing disinformation that works for long periods. We also contribute to the literature at the intersection of social media influencers and disinformation research by revealing why social media users believe in fraudulent influencers.
Text
ITP_AAM_Public.PDF
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 5 July 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 August 2024
Keywords:
Counterculture, Credibility, Disinformation, Fraud, Impression management, Influencer marketing, Self-presentation, Social media influencers
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 493387
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/493387
ISSN: 1758-5813
PURE UUID: bfc32a41-768b-4852-bf16-cdcf94e42e90
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Date deposited: 02 Sep 2024 16:41
Last modified: 07 Sep 2024 02:07
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Contributors
Author:
Varqa Shamsi Bahar
Author:
Mahmudul Hasan
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