Viewers desire to become saleable, not to own what influencers have

Evidence

Kang presumes the desire to watch is one in which the viewer experiences a vicarious fulfillment of desire that, nonetheless, leaves one empty and desiring. The viewer watches, Kang suggests, because they want what Kaji has. Yet, he admits, “there’s something a bit unsatisfying about this explanation,” because, were it true, “the most popular videos would show kids watching Paw Patrol on an iPad,” a representation that recreates what children seem to want to do with their time. Our argument, however, is that what really invites attention is the stream of interchangeable commodities—the spectacle of excess, the spectacle of more. The things are merely a background against which the real commodity appears, against which the real desire of the audience is directed: one desires to make oneself into something that can be sold, something that has economic value—a desire defined less through ownership, less through a desire fulfilled by possession, than through a desire fulfilled by waste. — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 235

Categorization

• XREF: Inverts the classic aspirational-consumption reading of influencer media; connects to the reader’s Corpocene framework where the self becomes the firm. — connects to: Reality TV performers were paid in attention rather than cash — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 828