The Grand Style. Encountering elderly influencers

From Firenze University Press Journal: Aisthesis

Maja Jerrentrup, University Landshut

The internet is not just a place for young folks, but also «old-er adults use the Internet for a broad range of purposes including interpersonal communication, errands, and leisure» (Leukel et al. [2020]: 255) and it has been assumed that the percentage of older users will significantly increase in the near future (United Nations [2017]). However, especially social media such as Instagram are still primarily used by young people: only 14% of Instagram’s users are above 45 (Statista [2021a]) and only 2.2% are above 65. Thus, when talking about elderly people on social media, it still refers to a small, but growing group: elderly people are picking up on social media (Statista [2021b]) — not only as recipients, but also as producers of media content: «Selfie is gaining popularity among the senior citizen» (Zhang et al. [2020]: 146) and «elderly influencers have seen a significant rise in popularity on Instagram» (Mediakix [2020]). Nevertheless, they have hardly been dealt with in social science.This article addresses the research question of how elderly influencers appropriate the medium Instagram and how they build a positive social identity in a medium that focuses heavily on external aspects and youth (Bell [2016]: 30). For this purpose, a sample of different posts will be analyzed.

To approach “elderly influencers” the term “influencer” has to be considered first. By its lit-eral meaning, an influencer is someone who does or wants to exert some kind of influence on oth-ers by changing respectively reinforcing their per-ceptions, opinions, behaviors etc. Influencers are defined as persons who show «some combination of desirable attributes» (Bakshy et al. [2011]: 65), or, more in detail, as «everyday, ordinary Internet users who accumulate a relatively large follow-ing on blogs and social media through the textual and visual narration of their personal lives and lifestyles, engage with their following in “digi-tal” and “physical” spaces» (Abidin [2016]). The aspect of monetizing the social media engagement that is also mentioned by Crystal Abidin may not be of greater importance in this context, as stated by several interviewees and apparent in very few cooperation partners.When considering the difference between usual stars and influencers, the concept of «micro-celebrity», coined by Theresa Senft in 2008 fits very well (Senft [2008]): unlike other celebrities, «popularity depends upon a connection to one’s audience, rather than an enforced separation from them» (Ibid.: 26). Microcelebrities are «famous to a niche group of people» (Marwick [2008]: 114), a status reached «by consciously arranging the self to achieve recognition or by being ascribed fame by others due to one’s accomplishments» (Ibid.: 114). In order to build affective relationships with the recipients, conveying authenticity is of par-ticular importance (Marwick [2013]) — even if it is ultimately a matter of «staged authenticity», which is authentic again insofar as it does not conceal its stagedness (Jerrentrup [2020]).Specifying a certain number of followers that would turn a user into a microcelebrity is dif-ficult, especially since in order to increase the number, followers can also be purchased. In addi-tion, the practices underlying the phenomenon may be similar no matter if the person in ques-tion is reaching or influencing a certain number of followers or not (Marwick [2019]: 162; for the problem of identifying influential users see Segev et al. [2018]). Accordingly, it is useful to choose the criterion of a public, i.e. unrestrictedly visible accounts, and the use of hashtags to attract new followers, instead of a certain number of followers. As for the term «elderly», the exact age range is also difficult to define. Some statistics or publi-cations use 65 as the age at which one is consid-ered a «senior», while others refer to 70 or older (for a discussion, see Orimo et al. [2006]). Most elderly influencers do not communicate their exact age but eventually use hashtags like #over70. In any case, it is clear that the influencers consid-ered in the sample do not want to disguise their age, but use it as a means to build and maintain their followership.In journalistic sources, the phenomenon of elderly influencers has been named «gran(d)fluencers», (more often without “d”) and refers to «folks 70 years old and up that have amassed substantial followings on social media with the help of decades-younger fans» (AP [2021]). However, the term “gran(d)fluencer”, even though many use it themselves as hashtag #granfluencer/#grandfluencer, is controversial from an emic perspective: the composition of «grandmother or -father» and «influencer» sug-gests that the people in question are «grandparents» and thus has certain familial connotations and defines the elderly influencers through other people, through their descendants. Therefore, the well-known influencer «iconaccidental» wrote to me when I asked her about her life as a «gran(d)fluencer»: «Not all of us are grandmothers and we are not all the same simply because we have grey hair», just as «saramaijewels», another famous influencer, told me «we aren’t all grandparents». Both of them were featured in a popular article by Harvey (2019) titled «the rise of the grandfluenc-er». However, in the context of wording, it is also important to consider the particular linguistic and cultural background: my mother tongue is Ger-man and the term “grand” in German does not suggest a family sequence, but rather, based on the French “grand,” something very elite as in “grand hotel” or in “grande dame,” a woman who sets standards and is seen in connection with elegance and wealth.Yet, the segregative aspect of the term “gran(d)fluencer” can be viewed critically: people are sepa-rated according to age groups. Of course, it is not the purpose of this article to draw clear lines, to sort people into categories, and to reinforce stere-otypes. Nevertheless, aging is a fact and «the study of older adults and the aging process has become a socially significant topic in the […] communica-tion sciences across cultures» (Giles et al. [2010]). One can, of course, appreciate elderly influencers simply for their sense of style or for their likeable self-presentation. Yet, many comments, as well as numerous journalistic articles show that their age plays a significant role in the perception of elderly influencers.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/Aisthesis-14379

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