The State of Virtual Influencers in the Media Industry: An Evaluation Over Instagram Example

İnci Tarı

Makale detayları

The State of Virtual Influencers in the Media Industry: An Evaluation Over Instagram Example

Yazarlar:

İnci Tarı

Yayıncı:

Süleyman Demirel University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi:

Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Vizyoner Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 39, pp.752-774

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

8/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001297262

pISSN:

1308-9552

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 The social media industry, has grown rapidly in the last decade becoming an important part of the media industry. Virtual influencers have become popular on social media since 2015 and they are frequently on the media agenda occasionally shown as the future of advertising. The aim of the study is to determine the current status of the virtual influencer sector questioning whether it holds an important place in the media and advertising industry. For this purpose, virtualhumans.org, a website specialized on virtual influencers, is examined and 193 virtual influencers active on Instagram, which is one the most popular platforms of social media, are determined. As of 15.11.2022, the accounts within the scope of the study are subjected to general survey model to detect their instant position and content analysis according to criteria such as the number of followers, whether they have identity verifications, the date of their latest posts, in how many days they post on average, their countries and images. The results of the research reveal that the number of accounts with over one million followers is only eight, the rate of active posting is limited to 54.4 and some of the accounts become passive after being popular for a period of time. Among the analyzed accounts, the rate of accounts with blue ticks confirming the reliability of the account is only 20.7. More than one fourth of the accounts originate from the USA, followed by S. S. Korea, Japan and the UK. The most important problem related to the sector is experienced at the point of sustainability of these virtual characters.

 The social media industry, has grown rapidly in the last decade becoming an important part of the media industry. Virtual influencers have become popular on social media since 2015 and they are frequently on the media agenda occasionally shown as the future of advertising. The aim of the study is to determine the current status of the virtual influencer sector questioning whether it holds an important place in the media and advertising industry. For this purpose, virtualhumans.org, a website specialized on virtual influencers, is examined and 193 virtual influencers active on Instagram, which is one the most popular platforms of social media, are determined. As of 15.11.2022, the accounts within the scope of the study are subjected to general survey model to detect their instant position and content analysis according to criteria such as the number of followers, whether they have identity verifications, the date of their latest posts, in how many days they post on average, their countries and images. The results of the research reveal that the number of accounts with over one million followers is only eight, the rate of active posting is limited to 54.4 and some of the accounts become passive after being popular for a period of time. Among the analyzed accounts, the rate of accounts with blue ticks confirming the reliability of the account is only 20.7. More than one fourth of the accounts originate from the USA, followed by S. S. Korea, Japan and the UK. The most important problem related to the sector is experienced at the point of sustainability of these virtual characters.

 The social media industry, has grown rapidly in the last decade becoming an important part of the media industry. Virtual influencers have become popular on social media since 2015 and they are frequently on the media agenda occasionally shown as the future of advertising. The aim of the study is to determine the current status of the virtual influencer sector questioning whether it holds an important place in the media and advertising industry. For this purpose, virtualhumans.org, a website specialized on virtual influencers, is examined and 193 virtual influencers active on Instagram, which is one the most popular platforms of social media, are determined. As of 15.11.2022, the accounts within the scope of the study are subjected to general survey model to detect their instant position and content analysis according to criteria such as the number of followers, whether they have identity verifications, the date of their latest posts, in how many days they post on average, their countries and images. The results of the research reveal that the number of accounts with over one million followers is only eight, the rate of active posting is limited to 54.4 and some of the accounts become passive after being popular for a period of time. Among the analyzed accounts, the rate of accounts with blue ticks confirming the reliability of the account is only 20.7. More than one fourth of the accounts originate from the USA, followed by S. S. Korea, Japan and the UK. The most important problem related to the sector is experienced at the point of sustainability of these virtual characters.

 Son on yılda hızla büyüyen sosyal medya endüstrisi, günümüzde medya endüstrisinin önemli bir parçası haline gelmiştir. Sosyal medyada 2015 yılından başlayarak öne çıkan sanal etkileyiciler medya gündeminde sıklıkla yer almakta, kimi zaman reklamcılığın geleceği olarak gösterilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı sanal etkileyici sektörünün güncel durumunu belirlemek, medya ve reklam endüstrisinde önemli bir yer tutup tutmadıklarını tespit etmektir. Bu amaçla sanal etkileyiciler üzerine uzmanlaşmış bir internet sitesi olan virtualhumans.org sitesi incelenmiş, sosyal medyanın en popüler platformlarından biri olan Instagramda etkin olan 193 sanal etkileyici belirlenmiştir. Çalışma kapsamında ele alınan hesaplar 15.11.2022 itibarıyla takipçi sayıları, kimlik doğrulamaları olup olmadığı, son gönderi tarihleri, ortalama kaç günde bir gönderi yaptıkları, ülkeleri ve görüntüleri gibi ölçütlere göre genel tarama modellerinden anlık durum saptama ve içerik analizine tabi tutulmuştur. Araştırmanın sonuçları bir milyonun üzerinden takipçisi olan sanal etkileyici sayısının henüz sadece sekiz olduğunu, incelenen 193 hesap içinde aktif gönderi yapanların oranının 54,4de kaldığını ve bazı hesapların belli bir popülerlik yakaladıktan sonra pasifleştiğini göstermektedir. Sanal etkileyicilerin dörtte birden fazlasının ABD menşeili olduğu tespit edilebilmekte; ABDyi G. Kore, Japonya, İngiltere takip etmekte, kimlik doğrulaması olan hesap sayısı ise 20,7 olarak belirlenmektedir. Sektörle ilgili en önemli problem ise yaratılan bu sanal kimliklerin sürdürülebilirliği noktasında yaşanmaktadır.

Makale detayları

The State of Virtual Influencers in the Media Industry: An Evaluation Over Instagram Example

Yazarlar:

İnci Tarı

Yayıncı:

Süleyman Demirel University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi:

Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Vizyoner Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 39, pp.752-774

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

8/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001297262

pISSN:

1308-9552

Media Industry

Media Economy

Social Media

Instagram

Virtual InfluencersMedya Endüstrisi

Medya Ekonomisi

Sosyal Medya

Instagram

Sanal Etkileyiciler

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: İnci Tarı

Yayıncı: Süleyman Demirel University

Ana Başlıklar: İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi: Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Vizyoner Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 39, pp.752-774

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 8/2023

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001297262

pISSN: 1308-9552

Sayı

Yazarlar:

İnci Tarı

Yayıncı:

Süleyman Demirel University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim ve Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi:

Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Vizyoner Dergisi Vol.14 Issue 39, pp.752-774

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

8/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001297262

pISSN:

1308-9552