For his book Mimesis, the German-Jewish literary critic Erich Auerbach undertook a grand survey of western literature from his wartime exile in Istanbul. He wanted to show that literature was becoming ever more democratic in its representation of reality, ever more attentive to the human individual. From Homerās gods and monsters, we had moved through Shakespeareās warriors and kings, to Austenās ladies, Dickensās merchants and Zolaās workers, down into Woolfian streams of consciousness. Here, at least, was a sort of moral progress to set against the darkness of the Third Reich.
Clearly thereās a similar dynamic at play in Instagram influencing ā that signature 21st-century means of ārepresenting realityā (to use an Auerbachian term). A few years ago, only celebrity demigods such as Rihanna were courted by brands for their coconut water endorsements on the photo-sharing platform. Soon it was the turn of more #relatable individuals such as the makeup vlogger Zoella and her YouTuber boyfriend Alfie Deyes, who built up multimillion-follower counts and now incessantly try to sell them things. āBig love to @visit.dubai for helping make the holiday happen!ā Deyes captioned a recent selfie in the lift of a luxury hotel ā part of a āpaid partnershipā with the afore-hashtagged.
Related: Brands are cashing in on social media envy, and using influencers to sell it | Poppy Noor
Continue reading...from Advertising | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PofGzA
via IFTTT
Comments
Post a Comment