RSM welcomes Zoë Glatt for a conversation with Visiting Scholar David Craig about her current research on the juxtapositions between structural inequalities in the influencer industry and the ways in which platforms co-opt social justice narratives.
“Contrary to highly celebratory industry discourses that position the influencer industry as diverse and meritocratic, in the past few years research has found that there are entrenched structural inequalities amongst creators working on social media platforms. This is an advertising-driven industry that makes visible the most profitable creators, those who do not disrupt the neoliberal status quo: white, straight, male, middle class, cisgendered, brand-friendly. At the same time, as anti-racist and intersectional politics have moved from the margins and into mainstream discourse social media platforms have clamoured to declare their deep commitment to social justice, launching initiatives from #YouTubeBlack to TikToks LGBTQ+ Visionary Voices List. Highlighting the incongruence of these two realities, in this talk Zo Glatt will contend that these initiatives are more an exercise in corporate PR and the spectacular display of diversity than they are about any real commitment to changing structural relations of power.
