My final thesis project analyzes self-branding, online influencers, and microcelebrity culture that contribute to shaping self-identity on social media. The project focuses on online identity through the lens of digitally created or cyborg accounts made for the purpose of promoting consumer culture lifestyle. Cultural notions around celebrity culture as a means of profit are expanding and are more inclusive due to social media formats that nurture self-branding and self-promotion. Companies take advantage of personalized media creation and distribution by using online influencers to promote products because of the minimal payouts and labor required. Therefore, ideologies of buying and selling become deeply rooted online and have come to change its users’ conceptions of themselves and shape an identity linked almost exclusively with the internet across platforms. Self-branding, online influencers, and microcelebrity culture are distinct forms of labor on social media that generate value through branding and shaping a profit driven self-identity that leads to the erosion of a meaningful distinction between notions of the self and the production and consumption imperatives that benefit digital entrepreneurialism.

Throughout the years, portraiture has acted as a reflection of the changing aesthetics of both society and art. As traditions progressed from one way of thinking to new ideas, art and particularly portraiture has acted as a visual record of these changes. From the elaborate portrayals of the aristocrats and their lush surroundings, displaying their wealth and prestige to the expressionist paintings of the 20th century, which were more concerned with portraying the intensity of the paint and the emotional state of the sitter than an accurate physical account, the apparel and accoutrements of the sitter have remained as an important factor in determining a person's identity. The following images are a reflection of the emphasis that our youth and consumer driven society has put on the outward appearance of an individual. The constant barrage of advertising has forced us to either accept or reject the mainstream ideals of beauty and fashion. As a result, despite our best efforts to separate ourselves as unique individuals through apparel, often times the choices that we make are compelled by acceptance of a larger social group.

As today’s most commonly used Self-portraits, this essay analyses the Selfie as a modern andvisual phenomenon which for its users contribute a reflexive project of the Self-Identity. Thepurpose of this paper was to systematical study specific features of the Selfie, according tovisual studies.Through the methods of semiotics, theory of sociology about the Self and theory about theSelfie phenomenon, the result shows that selfie users make use of biographical depictions – asposes next to elements – to revise and create new meanings, which is important for thereflexive project of the Self-Identity.

Problem: A changing economy bears many implications; precarity within employment, the restructuring of concepts, management of activities and the employment of tools reinforcing security. As a measure to procure and preserve employment in the modern market self- branding has been proposed. The value a brand has today is multifaceted and has proven to aid not only businesses and corporations but individuals as well. However, as self-branding is contingent on the precariousness of the changing economy, previous literature has focused on strategies and implications for the self-employed and failed to mention ramifications for the ‘traditionally employed.’ Furthermore, previous literature is lacking with regard to the Swedish employment market and the incorporation of potential cultural influences. Purpose: The scope of this research is two-fold, of both an explanatory and exploratory nature. This research seeks to explain, understand and investigate the Swedish employment market with regard to self-branding and identify possible influences. As well as, uncover new insights and explore the significance of self-branding for Sweden's ‘traditionally employed.’ Method: This research adopted a qualitative approach, conducted 10 semi-structured interviews and implemented a thematic analysis to interpret the empirical findings and answer the research questions. The findings were later analysed in accordance with previous literature. Results: The results identify to major concepts of significance with regards to the strategy of self-branding. Swedes must consider their purpose and authenticity as two major determinants of the value of their brand. Moreover, the results indicate offline branding activities, the Law of Jante and self-branding for the ‘traditionally employed’ of high relevance for the Swedish employment market.

Taiwan is one of the most vibrant societies in the world. The business environment is nowadays known for its economic vitality and healthy business competition mainly from the high degree of entrepreneur, sharp market insights, agile marketing strategy, and rapid adaption to changing business environment. To sum up, Taiwan is equipped with all the critical success factors for global business competition. All these factors help motivate the start-up of small business in Taiwan, and this is particularly true for the food industry as the entry barriers are relatively low in comparison to other industries. In recent years there is a surge of self-branding business and companies in Taiwan largely due to the popularity of online shopping and bulk orders. On the contrary, a significant number of self-branding companies failed to keep their business afloat and eventually had to exit the market. This study use literature reviews based on wholesale and retail food industry, self-branding, as well as critical success and failure factors. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the critical success & failure factors on self-branding for wholesale and retail food industry. First of all, this study uses in-depth interviews with four experienced professionals in self-branding enterprises to define critical success and failure factors for research model. Secondly, this study utilizes content analysis to measure and identify the level of significance and importance and order of priority for critical success and failure factors. The results of this study are as following: 1. There are four critical success factors in self-branding. The most important success factor in self-branding is customer value, followed by innovative marketing strategy and brand trust. The last is price tolerance. 2. There are three failure factors in this study. The business owners¡¦ decision error is the most significant failure factor, followed by brand positioning error, and virulent price competition.

Syftet med studien är att genom en kvalitativ semiotisk analys se på vad som definierar god smak. Utifrån Bourdieeus (1986) teorier om klass och smak vill jag se på Jeffrree Stars kapital och undersöka vilka markörer det finns för god smak.Min frågeställning lyder: Hur ser Jeffree Stars kapital ut? Vad är det för markörer som representerar god smak i Jeffree Stars fält och hur visualiseras det? För detta ändamål har jag analyserat 5 bilder från Jeffree Stars Instagramkonto, med 15,5 milj. följare. Mitt utfall blev att Jeffree Star har positionerat sig starkt inom sitt fält på Instagram som promotor för sitt eget sminkföretag. Detta innebär att han skapat en doxa, där han propagerar för vad som är god smak, genom att visa upp de kapitalvaror han erhållit genom sin framgång. Detta sker genom self-branding, där gränserna mellan det privata och företaget suddas ut. Vidare framkommer det att Bourdieus teorier idag kan vara svåra att applicera, då det idag sker ett snabbare informationsflöde genom internet och andra parametrar styr bedömningen av kompetens, somi detta fallet antalet följare på Instagram.

While beauty brands are often known to set industry trends, the consumers pave the way forbranding communications on social media. Companies have adapted their marketing strategies tobuild interactivity into their branding outreach. Therefore, this study answers the question, “Howdo beauty brands utilize consumer posts to convey branding messages?” To answer this, acontent analysis was performed using two sets of data: brand posts (n=314) from July 2019 andJanuary 2020, and consumer posts (n=100) which tagged the beauty brands. Using consumerculture theory, the study examines several themes, including branding messages, consumerengagement, and brand authenticity. Results reveal that beauty brands typically use consumerproducedcontent to convey experiential or user-centered branding messages, while companyproducedcontent most often includes informative and emotional messages. Further discussed isthe inclusion of Calls-to-Action (CTAs) which brands use to encourage user engagement. Thisstudy found a significant correlation between posts with CTAs and increased numbers in Likesand comments; however, these numbers are often misleading and represent manufacturedengagement. At the same time, users were found to engage more with the brands whenincentives or self-promotion opportunities were available.

Det faktum att unga människor, genom sociala medier, i allt större utsträckning erhåller makt att påverka har kommersialiserats av företag genom marknadsföringsmetoden influencer marketing. Merparten av forskningen kring influencer marketing fokuserar dock på företag eller följare – men vad vet vi egentligen om hur dessa influencers själva betraktar fenomenet och sin roll? Vad är det egentligen som driver influencers under 18 år? Denna studie ämnar besvara dessa frågor och därigenom tillhandahålla viktig insikt kring hur företag bäst förhåller sig till gruppen unga influencers. I studien medverkar fem influencers i åldrarna 14–17 år från mobilappen TikTok, där de i skrivande stund har mellan 172 000 till 2,3 miljoner följare. Studien visar på en relativt medveten grupp unga individer med god förståelse för sin roll i marknadsföringssystemet, likväl som för sin roll som opinionsbildare och influencer. Generellt uppvisar de en negativ uppfattning till reklam i allmänhet men en positiv inställning till influencer marketing. De innehar vidare stark kritisk inställning till det som de identifierar som missbrukande av rollen influencer. Trots att influencers främst tycks drivas av personlig vinning så har de en tydlig önskan att fungera som förebild och inspirationskälla. Influencers tycks vidare i stor grad drivas av inre motivationskällor och uppvisar stor personlig integritet samt selektivitet vid val av företagssamarbeten. Ett framgångsrikt samarbete bör därför upplevas som självvalt, innehålla rätt typ av budskap samt ge visst utrymme för egna tolkningar. / The fact that young people, through social media, has increasingly been given the power to influence has been commercialized by companies through the marketing method influencer marketing. However, most of the research on influencer marketing focuses on companies or followers – but what do we really know about how these influencers themselves regard the phenomenon and their role? What is it that drives influencers under the age of 18? This study aims to answer these questions and thereby provide important insights about how companies best relate to the group of young influencers. The participants in the study, which are aged between 14 and 17, are active on the mobile app TikTok. At the time of writing, they have between 172,000 to 2.3 million followers on the platform. The study shows a relatively conscious group of young individuals with a good understanding for their role in the marketing system, as well as their role as opinion leaders and influencers. Generally, they show a negative view of advertising in general but a positive attitude to influencer marketing. They also have a strong perception of possible negative aspects, that they identify as an abuse of the role influencer. Despite the fact that influencers mainly seem to be driven by personal gain, they have a clear desire to act as a role model and source of inspiration. Influencers seem to be strongly driven by internal sources of motivation and therefore show great personal integrity as well as selectivity to collaborations with companies. To achieve a successful business collaboration, the cooperation should therefore be perceived by influencers as self-chosen, contain the right kind of message and finally give enough room for the influencer’s own interpretations.

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 paper starts by an explanation of the context of personal branding and online personal branding and the problem identified by the authors. Thus, the purpose of the study is to investigate on the perception of students towards online personal branding through their own personal brand and with the perspective of matching employer’s expectations. A section reviewing online personal branding and related literature is provided in order to describe among others, the several components of the elaboration of an online personal brand and the different employers’ expectations towards this brand. Next, a section describing the different methods used in the study is implemented. The data of this paper is gathered through 13 semistructured interviews based on an operationalization of the different concepts presented in the theoretical framework section. The results are then presented in the empirical investigation section following recurrent identified themes bring by the respondents: The need to fit the norm, to stand out and of control. Then the data is analyzed through the theories and is therefore following the different components of an elaboration of a personal brand including the different items related to employer’s consideration and practices. Then the conclusion is drawing in order to answering the research question as well as providing some acknowledgement and recommendations. This paper has permitted to describe the perception of student towards online personal branding with the perspective of matching employers’ expectations. This perception is a rather incomplete online personal brand, consisting of a normalized image of the self, a tool for a certain self-realization towards a limited audience and a have a certain perception of an overall control of this online personal brand.