Praticas comunicativas de influenciadoras digitais no Instagram: mediações de autenticidade, visibilidade e algoritmos em narrativas digitais

Abstract

This study starts from the centrality and ubiquity of digital influencers in contemporary social media and seeks to understand how an exemplary sample of small-scale content creators constructs and mobilizes communicative practices aimed at the performance of authenticity and the generation of visibility on Instagram. Based on a qualitative approach anchored in a short-term ethnography adapted to digital environments, the publications shared on three selected profiles were analyzed through non-participant observation (the lurker method). The study articulates debates on authenticity, self-promotion, and the algorithmic norm that structures visibility mechanisms on the Internet. It was observed that the influencers employ dichotomous strategies: on one hand, they build proximity and affective bonds with their audiences; on the other hand, they reinforce distance and aspirational standards that sustain their credibility. The results indicate that authenticity, far from being an inherent characteristic, is configured as a social and commercial strategy, mobilized to consolidate lifestyles and foster consumption practices.