Work

‘Influence’ in the (post-)digital age: Girls’ experiences of online influencer culture

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines how girls aged 9–15 engage with online influencer culture, focusing on interplays between digital and non-digital normative ecologies. Drawing on school-based workshops, we explore tensions between authenticity, normative ideals and self-presentation in girls’ interactions with influencers. Participants expressed agency in content consumption alongside pressures to conform, shaped by social interactions online and offline. We argue that influencer culture perpetuates dominant femininity norms through reciprocal dynamics between influencers and audiences. Girls navigated this terrain ambivalently, often endorsing authenticity and diversity while feeling constrained by normative expectations. We propose a post-digital literacy framework to conceptualise girls’ critically engagements with influence as part of everyday life, highlighting implications for education and digital practice.

Source: New Media & Society

DOI: 10.1177/14614448251392918

Authors: Emily Setty, Robyn Muir, Rosie Macpherson

Institution: University of Surrey

Language: English

Topic: Gender, Feminism, and Media

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Gender equality

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900