Influencer labor value is not convertible into bargaining leverage against platforms

Evidence

The general precarity of most influencers is widely acknowledged. One solution often proposed for the precarity is unionization, an argument that frames influencers as equivalent to any other cultural worker. Influencers “are facing a kind of existential crisis,” reports the Atlantic. “They have never been more valuable to their home platforms, yet they’re still struggling to turn that value into meaningful leverage.” Among other factors, the algorithmic mediation of attention, the demands of platforms and advertisers, and the constantly shifting attention from audiences all contribute to the precarity of struggling influencers. — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 44

Categorization

• XREF: Directly feeds the reader’s labor-theory-of-value question: the surplus realized by platforms never accrues to the producer, who cannot convert value into leverage. — connects to: Platform couriers substitute brand shaming for workplace bargaining power. — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds: Solidarity…, 74
• ADDENDUM: Relevant to the Corpocene analysis: it isolates the failure of labor organization as evidence that the influencer is structurally not a standard worker.