Striving for Conspicuousness. How do Micro-Influencers Construct Social Status on Instagram

The dissertation focuses on how social status is constructed and displayed in contemporary society by looking at so-called social media influencers. Despite much attention being paid to influencers’ self-branding practices in terms of micro-celebrity, fame, and reputation, an analysis that focuses on such practices as ways to construct social status is still missing. To address these gaps, the research aims to assess the key elements at the basis of the construction of social status on Instagram, analyse the determinants of status in the context of the influencer economy, and address issues of status consumption and the creation of status hierarchies in contemporary society. Drawing on the Theory of the Leisure Class (Veblen, 1988), the analytical lenses of conspicuous consumption are adopted as a heuristic to analyse how micro-influencers deploys self-branding practices as ways to construct and display social status. In particular, I contend that conspicuousness represents the main cultural logic underpinning micro-influencers’ practices. The concept of conspicuousness points to the practices of being noticeable in front of a potential audience to acquire social status. Conspicuousness thus integrates the notion of visibility by accounting for displays’ importance and their social and symbolic valence in signalling status. To analyse social status in the context of the influencer economy, the methodological approach adopted comprises digital methods and qualitative interviews in an overarching qualitative design. The research consists of the collection, analysis and triangulation of Instagram data and interview data. This study focuses on the social media platform Instagram by looking at how platform-specific self-branding practices unfold with the aims of accruing and signalling social status within the Italian context.