På Instagram postar idag svenska partiledare bilder som är av vardaglig karaktär och föreställer situationer och miljöer man vanligtvis inte brukar se en partiledare i. Vi ser dem spela pingis inför publik, vi ser dem ta promenader i skogen med familjen och vi ser dem iklädda supporterkläder på en landskamp. Den här studien undersöker hur svenska gymnasieungdomar tolkar svenska partiledares visuella självpresentation på den sociala plattformen Instagram. För att undersöka detta har bilder valts ut från tre partiledares Instagramflöden: Stefan Löfven, Ulf Kristersson och Annie Lööf. Bilderna är representativa för hur partiledarna framställer sig själva på den sociala plattformen. Utifrån teori om semiotik, relationsbyggande arbete, självpresentation, personligt varumärkesbyggande och autenticitet, undersöker studien hur gymnasieungdomar tolkar och upplever bilderna. Detta genomförs genom kvalitativa intervjuer och receptionsanalys som metod. Genom semistrukturerade samtalsintervjuer har vi talat med tio olika ungdomar i Söderköping, Karlstad och Uppsala om hur de uppfattar partiledarnas självpresentation. Oavsett ungdomarnas politiska ståndpunkt går det att urskilja gemensamma kulturella associationer hos dem. Genom meningsbärande tecken, tillsammans med partiledaren som symbol för partiet, uppfattar ungdomarna olika politiska budskap i bilderna. Partiledaren fungerar som ett centralt tecken för att denna tolkning ska kunna göras. Respondenterna är av åsikten att bilder av vardaglig karaktär kan vara viktiga för väljare för att kunna relatera till, och känna igen sig i partiledarna. Genom en vardaglig självpresentation tror respondenterna att motivet till publiceringen av bilderna är att stärka relationen till en redan befintlig väljarkår, eller möjligen vinna över väljare utan stark politisk ståndpunkt. Respondenterna kan också urskilja en dramaturgisk uttänkt roll när partiledarna presenterar sig själva på ett vardagligt vis. Detta kan ge en skymt av vem partiledaren egentligen är, vilket skapar en sammansmältning av Goffmans två regioner och skapar en mellanregion på Instagram. I denna mellanregion påpekar respondenterna vikten av att partiledarna måste uppfattas som äkta. Vad respondenterna anser kännetecknar autenticitet går att särskilja till fyra faktorer: bilden ska inte uppvisa ett för tydligt politiskt motiv, bilden ska ge sken av ett spontant ögonblick, bildens kvalitet får inte vara för god, samt att bilden ska vara förenlig med respondentens egen uppfattning av partiets profil. Överlag spelar dessa fyra faktorer som skapar äkthet stor roll för hur gymnasieungdomarna tolkar bildernas autenticitet, vilket verkar avgörande för hur de tolkar bilderna på ett mer allmänt plan. Den här studiens resultat kan ge implikationer för hur olika samhällsinstanser, yrkesliv, liksom privatpersoner kan arbeta för att skapa förtroende på sociala medier genom att framstå som äkta. / Today, Swedish leaders of political parties post everyday life photos on Instagram, just like the rest of us. The posts show the politicians in situations and environments that you wouldn’t normally imagine a politician in. On Instagram, they post photos of themselves playing ping-pong, strolling in the forest with their family, cheering for their nation at a soccer game wearing supporter merchandise; photos that illustrate everyday life of an ordinary citizen. This study aims to look into how Swedish adolescents interpret the party leaders’ visual self-presentation on the social media platform Instagram. To do this, we have selected photos that represents the general self- presentation of three swedish party leaders: Stefan Löfven, Ulf Kristersson and Annie Lööf. Drawing on research and theory concerning semiotics, relationship theory, self-presentation, personal branding and authenticity, this study analyzes how adolescents read and interpret the photos. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews and reception theory, we have talked to ten adolescents from three different cities of varied population: Söderköping, Karlstad and Uppsala. The result of this study was that we found common cultural associations among the adolescents, regardless of their political preferences. Through meaningful signs, the adolescents found political messages in the photos. An important sign for this reading is the belief that the party leader is a symbol of their political party. According to the respondents, a strategic everyday life self- presentation can be an important tool to create a feeling of identification between the party leaders and the voters. Furthermore, the respondents think that these kind of photos can strengthen the relationship between a party leader and their existent voters, or attract voters that are indecisive. The adolescents do see the party leaders as actors in a dramaturgical performance, who want their audience to perceive them as one of the people. However, the respondents think this kind of self- presentation can be important, because it can still give a glimpse of the true self of the party leader. This coalition of the public and the private creates a kind of middle region, which takes place on Instagram. In the middle region, authenticity is key, according to the respondents. In the way the respondents talk about what is authentic and what is not, we identify a pattern. This pattern consists of four factors that creates authenticity: the photo cannot be too political, the photo must look spontaneous, the photo quality must not be too perfect, and the photo must coincide with the respondents view of the political party’s image. These factors are critical for how the adolescents perceive the photos and the party leaders portrayed in them overall. This study’s result could implicate how social facilities, organizations and citizens can use social media to create trust and authenticity concerning their personal brand.

Shifts in culture and technology have changed the manifestation of celebrity in modern society, culminating in the practice of internet microcelebrity, where one views followers as fans, produces content consistent with a personal brand, and engages in strategic interaction with devotees. This thesis examines how those effects have also changed how terrorists present themselves and operationalize celebrity status. An original typology of terrorist celebrity is presented: traditional, martyr, and internet micro-celebrity. Two in-depth case studies of terrorist micro-celebrities are analyzed: Anwar al-Awlaki of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Junaid Hussain of the Islamic State. The case studies are examined through content analysis of social media postings, personal chat transcripts, as well as mainstream media coverage of the individuals used to reconstruct their biographies. Following mainstream trends, these terrorist internet celebrities have built personal brands that target specific communities. Awlaki targeted English-speaking Muslims living in the West and IS foreign fighters like Hussain often target young people in the fighter’s countries of origin. Their online personas are created to be relatable and engaging to those specific audiences. Ultimately, mainstream celebrity trends have bled into terrorist behavior. By creating brands and managing them through micro-celebrity practices, terrorists have effectively weaponized online celebrity, using it for recruitment and planning.

The users of social media channels are today increasing rapidly. Because of this it has become more important for individuals to be seen and stand out of the crowd. The concept of personal branding has become more widespread and is today an important factor for individuals who want to communicate their personality on the Internet.The purpose of this study is to examine the role of personal branding in today’s society and to find similarities in how established bloggers use communication tools to increase their visibility. This has been done through qualitative interviews with individuals who write and shape their blogs depending on how they want to be seen on the Internet.By analysing our findings we came to the conclusion that personal branding is becoming more important in a world that is becoming more and more digitalized. Since the study has been viewed on from a transmitter perspective we have created a model that has the purpose to be an alternative guideline to show how to create a strong personal brand with a blog as the communication tool.

Med Internet kom de sociala medierna, vilka har fått en stor betydelse för människans sociala interaktion. Här ges utrymme att inte bara läsa och sprida information, utan också dela och skapa innehåll tillsammans med andra. Människans förhållande till kommunikation har således förändrats och de sociala medierna öppnar för möjligheten att i större utsträckning påverka hur vi gestaltar oss själva och framhäver vår identitet, något som i modern tid blir allt viktigare då individer måste särskilja sig från mängden för att lyckas sälja in sitt personliga varumärke. Studien ämnar att med ett kvalitativt angreppssätt utreda hur det personliga varumärket påverkas av användandet av det sociala mediet facebook. Hur mycket kryddas personliga framställningar för att verka mer spännande och är framställningen en spegelbild av verkligheten eller rent av skapandet av ett bättre jag? Syftet är att undersöka hur ungdomar använder sig av facebook för att utveckla sitt personliga varumärke och analysen kommer vila på fokusgruppsintervjuer där målet är att ta reda på hur de använder sig av språk och bilder för att forma och skapa sin identitet. Intervjuerna analyseras med hjälp av teorierna kritisk diskursanalys, socialkonstruktionism och begreppet ideologi och analyserna utgår mycket ifrån de två stora forskarna Anthony Giddens och Erving Goffman. Studien visar att identitetsskapande är en ständigt pågående process som speglas av verklighetens föreställningar och normer. Identitetsyrkanden bland unga på facebook är en ständigt pågående konstruktionsprocess som påverkas av omvärlden likt det socialkonstruktionistiska synsättet på livets gång och individens medierade roll kan därför ses som individens verkliga jag - ett jag individen skulle vilja vara. Det tycks finnas samma oskrivna lagar och normer i den medierade som i den fysiska verkligheten kring vad som är ett accepterat beteende, varför den sociala verkligheten "online" sammanfattningsvis inte tycks skilja sig så mycket från den sociala verkligheten "offline".

The aim of this study was to examine how and why realtors on the Swedish real estate market use social media marketing. In 2014, eight out of ten Swedish realtors were using social media in their profession (Mäklarvärlden 2014). Social media has grown to become an established marketing tool, why the intention of the authors behind this paper was to further investigate how and why Swedish realtors has adapted their marketing mix towards social media. Since the area of subject was examined through the experience and knowledge of individual realtors, a qualitative approach is to prefer rather than a quantitative approach (Bryman & Bell 2013). The selection of respondents was based on these experiences and knowledges, as these could be used later on to describe how the area of subject can be perceived (Gunnarsson 2007). The interviews that was part of the study was first coded in a threestep method and second analyzed using a descriptive analyze model, which is a suitable method for descriptive examinations (Gunnarsson 2007). The study identifies two major descriptive motives why Swedish realtors uses social media marketing, that is word of mouth along with personal branding. The study suggests that the realtors aims to accomplish these motives by appearing as either professional, passionate, personal alternatively a combination of the three.

I dagens samhälle är internet en stor del av vår vardag och det gäller att ständigt hålla sig uppdaterad. Aldrig någonsin har det varit viktigare med ett starkt personligt varumärke därför gäller det att vara medveten om hur vi uppfattas på sociala medier. I vår uppsats har vi som syfte att kartlägga vad en arbetsgivare anser är ett bra personligt varumärke, hur ett personligt varumärke utvecklas och byggs upp, samtidigt behålla identitet och professionalitet utåt sett. För att kunna besvara frågeställningarna bygger studien på en kvalitativ metod där vi har gjort semistrukturerade intervjuer och fokusgrupper. Studien är avgränsad då vi valt att intervjuarekryterare, erfarna inom personligt varumärke samt studenter. I den teoretiska referensramen beskrivs teorier och modeller kopplat till personligt varumärke och rekrytering som ligger till grund för vår studie. I resultatet presenteras det som har analyserats utifrån empirin och det teoretiska ramverket. Vår slutsats är att förtroende, trovärdighet och medvetenhet är tre viktiga parametrar för att utforma ett starkt personligt varumärke. Studien visar också ett mönster - att rekryterare idag undersöker sociala medier vid en anställning. Detta är dock något som majoriteten av populationen ännu inte är medvetna om. / In the society of today, the Internet is a big part of our everyday lives and it’s important to always be up to date. Never ever has It been more important with a strong personal brand, therefore, it is of great importance to be aware of how we are perceived in social media. In our essay, we aim to map what an employer considers is a good personal brand, how a personal brand is being developed and built while retaining an identity and professionalism to the outside world. In order to answer the questions, the study builds on a qualitative method in which we have conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The study is delimited as we chosen to interview recruiters, experienced in personal brands and students. The theoretical frame of reference describes theories and models related to the personal brand and recruitment that underlie our study. The result presents what has been analyzed based on empirical and theoretical framework. Our conclusion is that trust, credibility and awareness are three key parameters for designing a strong personal brand. The study also shows a pattern – that recruiters today investigate social media at an employment. However, this is something that the majority of the population is not yet aware of.

The general purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how individuals today, in a societywhere people spend more and more time on social media, create and alter their identity throughimages. The study is focused on Instagram, the most widespread social media only focused onphotos. The study is based on a postmodern perspective and focuses on symbolic interactionism,identity capital and psychological self. The empirical data was collected through semi-structuredinterviews with fifteen Instagram users, most of who are from the Stockholm, Sweden region. Thestudy was influenced by the Grounded Theory method where emergent themes describing howindividuals alter and create their identity through images were deduced from the interviews. Thesethemes were: showing a nuanced image of themselves, images as a means of conveying identity forrecognition, imagification as personal branding tool and reflexive social interaction.The findings suggest that individuals show only a selected, a nuanced, part of their identity onInstagram and Instagram gives a greater freedom to express what people want to express as theiridentity and their self. By using photos in social media individuals are not as limited as they wouldotherwise be in the real world in terms of how they want to market their identity. But there is also afrustration among many users of Instagram and other social media as many feel that the nuancedand perfected image that many people convey is fake and annoying to see and this could thus havea negative impact on that person’s personal brand. Images were seen to be more efficient than textfor the purpose of personal branding and it also appeared that identity creation through imagescould create a more expressive society.

La presente investigación titulada El uso del Personal Branding en el ámbito corporativo para liderar gente tóxica, tiene como objetivo analizar el uso del Personal Branding como una herramienta de gestión para liderar gente tóxica neutralizando sus efectos tóxicos y hacerlas productivas. Las personas tóxicas pueden afectar negativamente a la empresa, por ello se ha planteado que el problema de nuestra investigación está referido a que la gente tóxica en el entorno corporativo disminuye la productividad en la organización. Se ha desarrollado una investigación cualitativa descriptiva correlacional, debido a que permite determinar el grado de asociación entre variables empresariales. Las variables utilizadas son las personas tóxicas y el impacto en la productividad de una empresa. El instrumento que se ha utilizado son encuestas y entrevistas al personal de la alta dirección o gerencia, jefes o mandos medios de tres importantes empresas locales con presencia a nivel nacional, el resultado del análisis fue que el 100 % de los encuestados consideraron que las personas tóxicas impactan negativamente en la productividad, un 70% indican que pueden corregir sus actitudes con ayuda y un 60% conoce que es el Personal Branding. Por último, nuestra investigación pretende abordar el Personal Branding desde una perspectiva poco estudiada: Como una herramienta muy efectiva y valiosa para liderar personas tóxicas y por ende mitigar sus comportamientos negativos que afectan a la productividad de una organización, por ello estamos planteando una estrategia de implementación de Personal Branding en la organización. / This research entitled “The use of Personal Branding in the corporate environment to lead toxic workers”, aims to analyze the use of Personal Branding as a management tool to lead toxic workers, neutralizing their toxic effects and making them productive. Toxic workers can negatively affect the company, so it has been argued that the problem in our research is that toxic workers in a corporate environment decrease productivity in the organization. A correlational descriptive qualitative research has been developed, since it allows to determine the degree of association between business variables. The variables used are the toxic workers and the impact on the productivity in the organization. The instruments that has been used are surveys and interviews with directors, managers, chief, and middle chief of three important local companies with a national presence, the result of the analysis was that 100% of the workers considered that the toxic workers negatively impact on productivity, 70% indicate that they can correct their attitudes with help and 60% know about Personal Branding. Finally, our research aims to approach Personal Branding from a non-studied perspective: As a very effective and valuable tool to lead toxic people and therefore mitigate their negative behaviors that affect the productivity of an organization, therefore we are proposing a strategy for the implementation of Personal Branding in the organization. / Trabajo de investigación

Integrationen av sociala medier i dagens samhälle har bidragit till framväxten av en mersammankopplad och global värld. En värld som erbjuder fler tekniska möjligheter än tidigare, men som även bidrar med nya utmaningar. En av dessa utmaningar är hur man ska agera för att bli positivt utmärkt på den alltmer konkurrensutsatta arbetsmarknaden. Denna studie syftar till att angripa denna utmaning genom att undersöka hur den sociala applikationen Instagram kan användas som en kanal för personlig marknadsföring. Studiens slutsatser, vilka är baserade på en kombination av resultat från litteraturstudier samt kvalitativt inriktade intervjuer och innehållsanalyser, tyder på att Instagram kan användas som ett personligt marknadsföringsverktyg. Resultatet av studien indikerar att man bör börja med att klargöra sina unika och attraktiva egenskaper, mål och färdigheter för att skapa sig ett personligt varumärke.Detta varumärke kan sedan kommuniceras på Instagram genom skapandet och applicerande av en intresseveckande markandsföringsstrategi. För att höja chanserna att strategin ska lyckas bör den vara autentisk, tydlig, konsekvent och tilltalande för potentiella arbetsgivare. Resultaten tyder även på att det är viktigt att t.ex. använda hashtags och kommentarer för att skapa positiva interaktioner och uppmärksamhet kring ens varumärke/Instagramkonto. Slutligen bör man även utvärdera resultatet av ens ansträngningar för att se om ens mål blivit uppfyllda. / The integration of social media in today's society has largely contributed to the development of a more accessible and global world. Even if this evolution raises countless possibilities it also creates challenges, one of those is how to become positively distinguished in the increasingly competitive employment market. This study addresses this challenge by investigating how the new and popular social application Instagram can be used as a tool for personal branding. The findings, which are based on a combination of literature reviews, qualitatively oriented interviews and content analysis, concludes that Instagram can be used a personal branding tool. The recommended way to do this is by first clarify one's unique brandable attributes, values and goals by constructing a personal brand. This brand can then be communicated through Instagram by the use of a captivating strategy, which are evaluated and reviewed after some time. This in order to gradually develop the value offered so that the brand remains contemporary and competitive. To increase the chances of succeeding with the strategy, it should be authentic, clear, consistent and appealing for prospective employers. Findings also show that it is important to use e.g. hashtags and comments to create positive interactions and buzz around one's brand/Instagram account.

This thesis examines the marketing and branding behaviours of a sample of microbusinesses that operate in Scotland’s diverse craft sector by examining brand narratives they create. Context of the sector is first given and demonstrates that this particular topic has received little specific attention in academic literature even though it has been recommended (Fillis 2003a; Fillis 2003b). Such an investigation also offers implications for SME marketing/ entrepreneurship in general, the creative industries in particular and craft brands’ contribution to the overall place branding of Scotland. An empirical methodology is proposed which takes a narrative phenomenological approach, generating narrative texts from depth interviews with creative producers which is subjected to a Grounded Theory approach and narrative analysis in view of craft producer typologies (Fillis 1999; Fillis 2010). The stories of makers are used to generate meaning and outputs to contribute to theory, practice and recommendations for policy. Care is taken to ensure that the testimony of participants is co-created and not entirely the result of the researcher’s interpretation even though this study is interpretive in nature (Rae & Carswell 2000; McAdams 2008; MacLean et al. 2011). Similar to other entrepreneurs or producers in the creative industries, the craft worker in the current era is typified as an individual sole trader who operates in a wider culture, society and economy of increasing complexity and competition (Fraser 2013). This thesis selects those owner/ managers whose businesses rely upon craft practice and are operating in Scotland as its focus, but aims its findings at a wider reach to establish themes for future research to understand how its participants build value into their market offerings by creating personal narratives within larger narratives of craft sector and creative industries discourse. A range of participants from new starts to well-established craft practitioners is featured in the text in order to give depth and breadth to the understanding of current practice in a diverse sector which increasingly interacts with other creative industry sectors (Yair & Schwarz 2011). This thesis posits that creative producers build value through their unique ‘auratic’ persona through their personal brand narrative. This is what differentiates their work and outputs from large corporatized mass-manufacturing systems. The products of individuals’ hand skill may be categorised and classified in many ways – from fine contemporary craft to the vernacular, the utile and that which pays homage to others’ designs. What remains constant, however, is that it emanates from personal identity and the identity of the maker mixing self with story (Leslie 1998). The thesis contributes to the gap in academic marketing literature on microenterprise brand development using the topics of personal narrative, business development, product development, marketing competency/ orientation, and technology use in production and marketing. Additional emergent themes of Microenterprise Social Responsibility, the role of life-work balance of makers parenthood which further ideas of career management in the creative industries are also revealed in the course of this research (see also Summerton 1990; Burroughs 2002; Neilson & Rossiter 2008; McDowell & Christopherson 2009; Banks & Hesmondhalgh 2009). Methodologically, this thesis is hybrid but crucially uses the equipment of story and narrative analysis to offer both insights into practice for the academy and a method that practitioners can use to further marketing development and their brand identity. Through the careful gathering and presentation of various stories – of biography, making and marketing, this thesis presents a current view of craft as created, communicated and exchanged by those working in the field in Scotland today. These case stories act as both informative examples that demonstrate how individual producers create value in their work. The findings are consistent with - but also develop - a maker typology offered by Fillis (1999; 2010) and Burns et al. (2012) thus contributing a methodological and conceptual approach and framework to understand the marketing and branding behaviours of Scottish craft microenterprises (McAuley 1999; Creative and Cultural Skills 2009) but which may also be applied to other types of microenterprise.