Influencern och kapitalet : en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av Margaux Dietz och Bianca Ingrossos innehåll på Instagram, i relation till Bourdieus kultursociologi

Sammanfattning: This essay explores how two of Sweden’s most famous influencers, Bianca Ingrosso and Margaux Dietz, can be perceived through Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of capital. Furthermore, the essay also examines what position influencers have in a contemporary class society. By incorporating theories of consumerism and post-feminism, the study interprets how class is constructed through contemporary social media. The main theoretical framework consists of Bourdieu’s theory of capital, Thorstein Veblen’s theories of the leisure class, as well as Rosalind Gill’s theory of postfeminism and Sarah Banet-Weiser’s popular feminism. The method is based on a case study and a qualitative content analysis of all content published on the social media platform Instagram, by Ingrosso and Dietz during one week, which creates the empirical foundation of the study. Lastly, the key findings of this essay are: (1) Ingrosso and Dietz don’t possess the traditional definition of cultural capital of Bourdieu, but rather an alternative version where the cultural influence they have over their followers is central, and (2) there has been a shift in the value retained by the different capitals, from Bourdieu’s definition where cultural capital is the most valuable, to a contemporary view of class where the economic capital is of greater significance.