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Influencers from various countries will be coming to Leeuwarden from 7 to 11 November to share their knowledge and experience with students and researchers from the Professorship Organisations and Social Media. This second edition of the Swipe Up Week coincides with the national Media Literacy Week, although Charlotte van Hassel, lecturer-researcher for the professorship admits it’s not a complete coincidence. “The theme for the Media Literacy Week this year is 'Like en Cancel', something influencers have to deal with all year round. The influence influencers have has grown so much over the past few years that responsible influencing is no longer an issue that can be avoided. Responsible influencing not only applies to your posts but also to the way you treat yourself, especially when you realize that influencers can also be seen as organisations.”
The Social Code
The term responsible influencing came into being a few years ago. “In the Netherlands, influencers took it upon themselves to develop a ‘Social Code’ that included important rules for influencers,” explains Deike Schulz, Professor of Applied Sciences in Organisations and Social Media. “The code includes, for instance, rules on being transparent about the advertising you do, when you accept free goods and when you give your opinion. The Social Code was succeeded in 2014 by the Dutch Advertising Code which is now known as the Advertising Code for Social Media & Influencer Marketing. It’s an important guideline but still doesn’t answer the question about how you should handle fans’ unrealistic expectations, huge work pressure, different perspectives or hate comments. Which is why it’s one of the topics being handled during the Swipe Up Week.”
"In the past, you had no idea what the Backstreet Boys spread on their bread. Nowadays, you even know where your idol goes on holiday.”
From posters to posts
While many budding influencers dream of a crowd of cheering fans at the door, it’s also one of the things successful influencers struggle with. “Parasocial relationships (a one-sided relationship with a celebrity you don’t actually know, Ed.) between fans and influencers are very different nowadays,” says Professor Schulz. “In the past, if you were a Backstreet Boys fan, you’d have a poster hanging above your bed, but you had no idea what the singers in the boy band had on their bread for breakfast. Nowadays, as a fan, you know nearly everything about your idol, from family members to favourite holiday destination. It means fans expect far more from influencers. They know so much about their idol’s private life that they think they also have a right to share private moments when the camera isn’t on. So it may be that fans suddenly turn up at the door of the influencer’s holiday home.”
European Influencers Academy
For five days, influencers will be sharing these kinds of experiences with each other and talking offline in Leeuwarden. The professorship is also holding workshops on thematic workshops such as online filter bubbles, intercultural differences and meaningful online communication. “The whole week is, for us, all about practical and collaborative research,” explains Van Hassel. “This unique way of carrying out research gives us the chance to see the world through the eyes of the influencers for a whole week. We’ll use the insights we gain for our European Influencers Academy, the first research initiative in the world specializing in responsible influencing.”
“One thing is for sure: the influence influencers have will only continue to increase”
International group
Ten influential influencers will be coming to Leeuwarden for this second edition of the Swipe Up Week. From Spain and Finland to Romania and Nigeria, the number of different nationalities is as impressive as the number of followers each participant has. There’ll be influencers attending that get tens of thousands of extra followers a day, like the Nigerian Chidiebere Ibe (@ebereillustrate) with 142K followers, and the Brazilian living in the Netherlands Matheus Santana (@santanamatheus) with 28K followers and the Fin Sini Laitinen (@nastynapalm) with 62K followers. “In technical terms, this means our participants are somewhere in between the micro and macro influencers,” says the professor. “It’s a target group that’s hugely interesting for us to talk to because they still have a lot to find out and discover, often without help from management. How exactly they do that is particularly interesting for us.”
Further growth
These kinds of events, masterclasses and workshops where influencers talk to other influencers, students, local businesses and government representatives are a new and innovative way for the professorship to acquire knowledge. “We want to develop this initiative and carry out broader research into responsible influencing with our RUN-EU partners and researchers in Ireland and Portugal,” says Professor Schulz. “We aim to create value, and we want to help influencers think about how they can share content responsibly and build a community. One thing is for sure: the influence influencers have will only continue to increase.”
Professorship Organisations and Social Media
In the Professorship Organisations and Social Media at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, researchers, students, lecturers and organisations study online communication. Through practice-based research, the professorship contributes to the development of knowledge, professional products and networks regarding media literacy and other related topics such as online group polarisation and intercultural communication. The professorship has its own model for Meaningful Circular Communication and developed the Meaningful Communication Canvas, a tool that can be used to analyse meaningful communication.