Social media analyst Emily Hund: ‘We can never know the truth behind an influencer’s seeming authenticity’

Today influencers sell ideas about science and medicine as well as products. But the integrity on which their status rests, says the US author, is as unknowable as the algorithms that push their content

In the early 00s, Emily Hund dreamed of a career as a journalist at a glossy fashion magazine. But after internships with New York media companies and having witnessed falling circulations and redundancies, she switched to studying one of the catalysts for these changes: social media and the influencers whose YouTube, TikTok and Instagram posts sell ideas, lifestyles and products to their followers. The influencer industry ranges from global stars such as the Kardashians to micro-influencers who post on niche interests. What they have in common is that they work with brands to promote or sell to an audience. Hund is now a research affiliate at Pennsylvania University's Centre on Digital Culture and Society and her first book on influencers is published in the UK this month.

How did social media take hold in people's lives?
There was a lot of optimism about social media in the 00s when technology first made it easier to share opinions. During the economic crisis of 2008, when people were out of work or looking for ways to make money, it really took off. Bloggers found loyal audiences, so advertisers got interested. This was all happening against a crisis in traditional media and they were looking for new ways to promote products.