Abstract

Brands are set to spend over $15 billion on influencer marketing in 2022 alone. When you run a Google search for “what are influencers selling?” you will find pages of responses regarding how influencers can help brands sell their products. What is lacking is a deeper inquiry into the nature of being an influencer and the exchange involved in influencer marketing. Despite significant contributions to digital marketing growth, there has been scarce critical inquiry into the impact of influencers on society. Using a legal framework alongside insights from modern and post-modern socio-economic philosophers such Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Pierre Bourdieu, and Gernot Böhme we illustrate some contemporary ethical and philosophical dimensions of the virtual age. Digital celebrities present a unique moment in global capitalism. Beyond compensation or payment, we must question the metaphysical ramifications of the sale of relationships and a percentage of our digital, and perhaps physical, identity.