Influencer followers double as unpaid product test subjects
Evidence
While his readers use him as a role model, Tim uses his blog community as a test market; he explained that his readers function as “open-source clinical trials to test the diets and the workouts.” He frequently asks for feedback and solicits testimonials from his fans. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 448
Categorization
- SEED: Angle: the influencer-audience relationship as asymmetric research-and-development — followers supply free labor and validation while the influencer monetizes the results.
- XREF: Resonates with Vaynerchuk’s work-more ethos from the preceding paragraph and with broader critiques of participatory culture as free labor (Jenkins, Terranova). — connects to: Social media participation constitutes unpaid labor from which platforms extract value — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 505; Free products, not wages, often constitute influencer compensation