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Part of
Influencer Discourse: Affective relations and identities
Edited by Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich and Alexandra Georgakopoulou
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 349] 2024
► pp. 75–98

Chapter 3
The dimensions of relatability for Instagram lifestyle influencers

A linguistic approach

| University of Birmingham
Relatability is a buzzword in social media marketing associated with influencers. In this chapter, I provide a linguistic analysis of the dimensions of relatability using corpus-linguistic methods to analyse a dataset of English-language comments posted in response to nine lifestyle influencers who maintained accounts in Instagram. The dimensions of relatability focus on the evaluation of identity, where authenticity and emulatable qualities are used as complementary strategies of impression management and where rapport-enhancing strategies of humour and positive affect are used within parasocial interactions. Emulatable and authentic aspects of relatability are performed separately in the posts which are published over time and are interwoven with the advertising content produced by the influencers. This neatly encapsulates the dual purpose of relatability as it is deployed by Instagram influencers, where the rhetoric of relationality and affective connection is coupled with the work of self-promotion and visibility that is used for commercial gain.
Keywords: Instagram, lifestyle influencers, relatability, corpus linguistics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Scholarly research about relatability
    • 2.1Emulatable identities
    • 2.2Authentic identities
    • 2.3Intimate interactions
  • 3.Data and methods
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1The lexical realisation of relatability
    • 4.2A quantitative comparison of the relatability dimensions
    • 4.3Who or what is relatable?
    • 4.4Parasocial interactions
  • 5.Concluding discussion
  • Note
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
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