“I’m not an influencer”: a study of the manifestation of the quantified self in self presentation of instagram influencers in Singapore

Abstract

Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms in use today, both globally and in Singapore. In Singapore, the prevalence of the platform has created a rise of Instagram Influencer culture, where such Influencers use self-presentation to obtain and maintain microcelebrity careers. This is managed through the continued effort of tracking and improving their social status on Instagram, as seen through the lens of the quantified self. Using in-depth interviews and inductive qualitative content analysis, we managed to obtain data on how the quantified self manifests in the self-presentation of Instagram Influencers in Singapore. Through these methods, we found that respondents employed different ways of presenting the self in order to reach the goals of their Influencer status. In addition, we also observed that the various actions Influencers partook in were telling of their quantified selves. Given the pervasiveness of social media and the huge success of Instagram, it will be sociologically meaningful to delve deeper into this phenomenon.