Engagement

6.3.1.5 Self-expression

In relation to self-expression the respondents attempt to make sense of the relationship between themselves and Matilda Djerf and if it reinforces or reflects the person they are or who they want to be. Viktoria and Maja explain how following Matilda Djerf expresses parts of their inner self.

Viktoria says “[…] sometimes I plan too much and worry too much about my future and that I should learn from people that are more naive and free kind of that she [Matilda Djerf] is.”

(00:46:19) then she continues “[…]I think maybe she’s representing that part of me that should be a little bit more carefree.” (00:46:54). Further, Maja expresses “She symbolizes what I wished I looked like.” (00:42:50).

Three respondents relate to their social self when they mention that they are aware of other people's perception of who they engage with on social media. This further influences how they engage with Matilda Djerf; “I don't have a problem if people know that I follow her and think she’s cute or anything, because I really do.” (Maja, 00:47:21). Maja continues by explaining how she engages with another influencer; “I check her [other influencer] Instagram every day but I don't follow her because that one I feel like you have to defend because there's like divided if you love or hate that person” (00:47:34). These quotes show how engagement can change depending on how Maja wants to express herself. Viktoria makes a further comment regarding how following Matilda Djerf expresses her social self when she says “If they see I follow Matilda they think that’s maybe interesting.” (00:48:15). A connection between the social self is also expressed by Malin when she says “She has a good feed so some people would actually start following her because of me.”

(00:36:45).

In sum, two of the respondents express a connection between their inner self and their engagement

with Matilda Djerf. Additionally, three respondents exhibit an awareness of how engaging with

Matilda Djerf reflects their social self. Nonetheless, self-expression is not shown to have a strong

influence on the respondents’ motivation to engage with Matilda Djerf.

form of aesthetic enjoyment was the initial motivation for Maja to start engaging with Matilda Djerf. For the other three respondents, inspiration was the initial motivation to engage with Matilda Djerf. Both Carina and Viktoria relate to Matilda Djerf’s hair; “[…] I remember why I follow her and that’s because she has some really nice hair” (Carina, 00:10:30) and “I thought she has really nice hair and that’s the reason why I started to go into her profile.” (Viktoria, 00:12:09). Malin further comments that her reason for following Matilda Djerf was inspiration as well; “I saw some pictures that I liked. She had nice shoes and nice styles.” (00:07:36).

In terms of engagement the respondents express how they engage with Matilda Djerf across her social media platforms. In general, the respondents show a low level of engagement, typically consuming content on Matilda Djerf’s social media platforms by watching, reading or listening. All of the respondents argue that inspiration is a motivation for consuming. Maja expresses this behaviour when she says “I can save her posts if there’s something that I want to buy. Like that was a good, or if there's something like this was a nice outfit she put together I want to look like that or if she has an inspirational photo.” (00:46:24) and Viktoria adds “I took a lot of screenshots on her hair because I thought that looks nice and I brought that to my hairdresser. And then I have a folder or I use Pinterest for example on my computer and save a lot of inspirational pictures.”

(00:50:30).

Three respondents mention how information motivates their engagement in terms of consuming;

“Sometimes if I want to, browse and shop I go to her page and see if I can find something. Or if she promotes what do you call it clothing brands. And then I check it up and see if I can find something.” (Malin, 00:10:19) and Viktoria says “[…] I go more to the blog to maybe see if she posts collages or maybe if she does a hair tutorial or something.” (00:16:41). Likewise, the connection between information and engagement is evident when Maja describes her behaviour

“[…] when I see her [Matilda Djerf] pictures I like always click so you can see what she has tagged. And so I guess that is important because I always want to see the brands that she is using.”

(00:34:48).

Entertainment is mentioned by all respondents as a motivation for consuming. Maja describes “I

was tired but I didn't want to sleep yet […] and then I went in on YouTube […]” (00:36:49) and

Viktoria further adds “I think the content that makes me want to visit her profile is kind of the

majority of her feed I would say. Like pictures of her, pictures of pretty places she goes to.”

(00:48:36). In relation to this Malin, as described previously engages with Matilda to fill time when she says “[…] I had nothing to do so I saw the video [live video of Matilda Djerf].” (00:12:24).

Finally, Carina says that she is engaging with Matilda Djerf in part since she thinks “she’s really pretty and I think she has a really nice style” (00:24:21).

When asked about remuneration as a motivation for engaging with Matilda Djerf, only Maja and Viktoria would seek out discount codes when engaging with influencers in general; Viktoria explains “[…] usually if I’m on Gina Tricot and want to buy something online, then I search for the influencers to find discount codes. Got to be smart.” (00:45:17). This is supported by Maja when she says “[…] that's why when I’m like, now I need this and then I’m checking the codes up.”

(00:41:22).

None of the respondents express that they comment on any posts of Matilda Djerf, but some of the respondents ‘like’ pictures of her and share content with friends, which indicates contributing. A higher level of engagement in the form of contributing is mentioned by Carina in the form of sharing inspirational outfits of Matilda Djerf with her friends; “[…] if she was wearing anything I thought was really nice I could tag my friends in it.” (00:42:39). Carina’s engagement exemplifies a user-to-user interaction through a branded conversation. Also Malin engages in a branded conversation; “[…] I have shared with my colleagues if I see something nice or I see something that I think my colleagues that likes fashion that she would like to have then I would maybe share her [Matilda Djerf’s] posts […].” (00:39:01). Both Carina and Malin, show a connection between inspiration and contributing. Likewise, Viktoria is never contributing in the form of commenting but she ‘likes’ content Matilda Djerf posts; “I never comment because I don’t really feel the need because I don’t have any like direct questions or things. But I try to ‘like’ pictures.” (00:51:29).

Additionally, Carina and Malin engage by ‘liking’ and express how entertainment through aesthetic

enjoyment influences their engagement in the form of contributing; “I have just ‘liked’ them, I

guess if I find something cute or nice.” (Malin, 00:39:01) and “If I think the picture is nice I would

like it.” (Carina, 00:42:05).

Additionally, the respondents show an awareness of how engaging with Matilda Djerf could be related to self-expression, yet the findings show rather weak connections between self-expression and the motivation to engage.

In sum, for three respondents the initial motivation for starting to follow Matilda Djerf was inspiration. Further, one respondent mentions entertainment as the initial motivation. All of the respondents are consuming and most of the time they act as 'lurkers' by only engaging passively.

Some of the respondents engage by contributing and none of the respondents clearly engage by creating. The motivations for consuming that are most mentioned by the respondents are inspiration, information and to some extent entertainment. Further remuneration as a motivation for consuming is less prominent since two respondents mention in connection to influencers in general.

The only motivations mentioned by the respondents for contributing are inspiration and

entertainment.