VirtualHumans.org:
"At the conclusion of the academic semester, we observed an increased frequency of formal academic studies into the virtual influencer industry. Insights derived in these studies are both necessary and illuminating. Despite increasing in frequency, sociological studies of virtual influencers remain a rare subcategory. Most academic theses we read on the industry are either quantitative or scientific, diving deep into the technologies, processes, and innovations that allow the creation of these virtual influencers. In contrast, a sociological approach observes why they exist, how they exist, and how they interact among the various affordances within a social media-obsessed world. We see this as necessary, important research. We welcome Hope Jacobson to VirtualHumans.org for a multi-part series spotlighting her rarely-seen, sociological research into virtual influencers. In the first outtake below, Hope writes a brief literary review of Erving Goffman's 'Impression Management.' This review poises theater as analogous to social media, then flows into various claims about influencers, especially digital influencers. Hope poises this work in relation to social media and how Erving's widely-respected methodologies can be used in a new light to study virtual influencers, specifically."
"At the conclusion of the academic semester, we observed an increased frequency of formal academic studies into the virtual influencer industry. Insights derived in these studies are both necessary and illuminating. Despite increasing in frequency, sociological studies of virtual influencers remain a rare subcategory. Most academic theses we read on the industry are either quantitative or scientific, diving deep into the technologies, processes, and innovations that allow the creation of these virtual influencers. In contrast, a sociological approach observes why they exist, how they exist, and how they interact among the various affordances within a social media-obsessed world. We see this as necessary, important research. We welcome Hope Jacobson to VirtualHumans.org for a multi-part series spotlighting her rarely-seen, sociological research into virtual influencers. In the first outtake below, Hope writes a brief literary review of Erving Goffman's 'Impression Management.' This review poises theater as analogous to social media, then flows into various claims about influencers, especially digital influencers. Hope poises this work in relation to social media and how Erving's widely-respected methodologies can be used in a new light to study virtual influencers, specifically."
