Julia

Respondent: Julia

Interviewers: Christoph and Simon Location: Café

Length: 01:11:39 Date: April 5, 2018

Christoph: First we would like to ask you some general question about social media behaviour. Could you describe the last time you used social media?

Julia : Yes. A few seconds ago. Ehm I used a few seconds ago and before that I used it right before I met you. I just looked through my feed on Instagram and just checking the status what’s going on in the digital world. [00:00:07]

Christoph: How often would you say you use social media?

Julia: Too often! [00:00:29]

Christoph: What is too often then?

Julia: Too often is probably...hmmm.. several times a day so maybe, maybe 5 times a day. That I actually go in and check stuff...no like 4 or 5 times a day maybe. [00:00:51]

Simon: When is this usually, this 4 or 5 times?

Julia: Ehhm well first thing in the morning probably. (laugh) I don’t know if I like this interview (laugh). I get some insights. [00:01:00]

Christoph: No you can. You have to tell us the truth.

Julia: Okay. No I can be honest with you, I promise. No in the morning...ehm...and then probably during lunch like if I’m working it's during lunch. I don’t use it as much when I’m working, it's more when I’m more flexible, when I’m studying I use it more..ehm..and also in the evenings, like maybe around dinner and before going to bed...so approximately 4 to 5 times a day. [00:01:19]

Christoph: Alright so which social media platforms are these? Which you use the most?

Julia: That would be Instagram. [00:01:55]

Christoph: Okay. And like others, do you use any others?

Julia: It depends on the purpose of it. I use them for different purposes. Instagram I just use to like look at pictures and see what people are doing and stuff like that but then Facebook barely only use to communicate with people, I never scroll down the feed, I never check things, I just communicate with people on Facebook. And the others I use is Linkedin actually and there I scroll through the feed a lot but that's for another purpose that's for checking out possibilities in another kind of environment, it's more in a professional environment of course. [00:02:11]

Simon: Now you kind of described them in terms on how much you use them. Which is your favourite?

Julia: Hmm..Again it depends on the purpose and it depends on the situation of course. But generally it’s probably Instagram because that's the one that I use the most and create more content on as well. So I’m more interactive with Instagram then any of the others I would say. [00:03:11]

Christoph: So these are the main three one that you would us?

Simon: Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin?

Julia: Yes! Snapchat but not that much at all. I don’t know why, I think the have the same functionality on Instagram now and I like them more for some reason. I like the usability of them more on Instagram. Ehm and I don’t like to have a lot of different platforms. Like it's getting too much, I like to stick to the ones I

like. And Snapchat feels unnecessary for me right now unless Snapchat is more personal it's really personal directed so then I use Snapchat. [00:03:42]

Christoph: Alright that was really good! Thanks for that.

Julia: You are very welcome! [00:04:19]

Christoph: So now there’s going to come up some questions about influencers in general. Do you know what an influencer is?

Julia: Yes! [00:04:28]

Christoph: Okay that’s good to know! So can you tell us what an influencer is?

Julia: You mean how I would describe an influencer? [00:04:39]

Christoph: Yeah what is an influencer for you?

Julia: Someone who’s on Social Media and kind of influencing through different channels, like it could be with different niche I would say. Some people are like lifestyle and it can be in fashion, make up, there’s a bunch of different influencers in a lot of different categories I would say. And in my opinion, an official influencer is someone that has a lot of followers and a lot of credibility online. [00:05:30]

Simon: What do you mean with credibility?

Julia: Probably what I said first, a lot of followers and the people are interacting with them, that’s my first impression of it. If you see that they have a lot of likes and if you see the people are commenting and of course also if they have this official mark then that would definitely a sign of credibility. [00:05:43]

Christoph: Whom do you follow on social media?

Julia: Just in relation to influencers? [00:06:16]

Christoph: No let’s think about friends, brands, companies, etc.

Julia: Most it’s my friends of course but then they are probably not the most active ones . The most active ones, I follow some celebrities that I think are interesting and I follow some companies that I like, like some brands, some makeup brands, some fashion brands. I actually recently started to follow H&M and the only reason I did that was because of their scandal because I wanted to read about what was going on.

And then I follow a few influencers and most of them are influencers that I followed for a long time so they just stick in my feed. Oh and sometimes, I watch Idols, I follow them because I want to hear everything they do. Yes I become a bit obsessed. [00:07:09]

Simon: Why do you want to hear everything they do?

Julia: Because I think I become a bit obsessed, I think they are so good, I want to see what they do. [00:07:55]

Christoph: Let’s go back to the influencers. How would you describe the content influencers post?

Julia: I think it’s different. As I said before it can be very different from, like they can be representing different categories. But most of the influencers that I follow is probably lifestyle influencers and fashion

influencers. So I would probably describe their content as very a lot of nice picture of what they are doing, restaurants, going on vacation, different products that they use, different recommendations, like everything that they are sharing of what they are doing and kind of a lot of romanticising their...they reflect a very one sided view of their life I would say. Like very nice, it’s very fun, positive, fancy, luxurious, exclusive. Like very positive and very one-sided. There’s not a lot of negative posts, only maybe once in a while. Most of the times it’s not like bad stuff or ugly picture for example. [00:08:11]

Christoph: Okay so now we are done with the general part. Now we would like to ask you about Bianca Ingrosso.

How did you find Bianca? When was that?

Julia: That’s a hard question! I try to remember. Of course her mother is famous, so initially the reason why I knew about her is through her mom and honestly I think maybe it was actually I started during one period because she’s showing in different channels like generally on TV and here and there. And initially I saw her in Let’s dance and it started to get this boom about her, she was everywhere and then I just thought ah yeah she has a good style, she’s really pretty and she seems like a fun person so I think I started to follow

her for that reason. And I knew a little bit about her so I guess wanted to find out more about her. She was interesting. [00:10:53]

Christoph: And when was that?

Julia: I think that must have been...When was she in Lets Dance? I think 2 or 3 years ago. I probably followed her for 2 years. [00:11:26]

Christoph: What was you first impression when you saw Bianca for the first time?

Julia: I think I thought she seemed like an interesting person. She was funny, she looked really good and she has nice clothes and a good taste. Yeah, I just thought she seems like a nice person. Probably an interesting lifestyle as well. [00:11:54]

Simon: In what way did she seem like a nice person?

Julia: Probably. Sorry for saying probably but I can’t really remember. I think, in what way did she seem like a nice person? [00:12:30]

Simon: Was there anything in general?

Julia: I think the nice thing comes from, she seems to be very genuine, she seems very honest and open, very personal and very like, it easy to relate to her, she’s like a normal person in a way, like normal but still really public. In general, I think a lot of people can relate to her and that’s what I felt too. That she’s fun and interesting to follow. Someone that could be my friend maybe. Like she could as might be one of my friends, that’s what I mean. [00:12:56]

Christoph: You say you know her since 2 to 3 years, how would you describe Bianca now?

Julia: A lot of the same. Producing a lot of the same content. Not much has changed. Maybe my opinion about her has changed a little bit. [00:14:07]

Christoph: In what way?

Julia: Maybe it’s not as interesting anymore like in the beginning when you want to found out more and now she has produced the same things over and over again. You feel like kind of know that already, it’s not super exciting to see what she posts, it more or less the same all the time. [00:14:29]

Christoph: And how do you keep up to date with Bianca? Which social media platforms do you visit?

Julia: Mainly Instagram, very rarely her Blog and sometimes her YouTube channel. I forgot to mention YouTube as a social media platform I use. This is actually kind of relevant because I only use YouTube to watch influencers usually. Like their makeup tutorials and I don’t use YouTube for other purposes anymore. [00:14:52]

Simon: Why do you use YouTube for that purpose? What is it about YouTube?

Julia: Because it’s like a longer video. Instead of just seeing posed pictures or fixed pictures you get to see more like… what should I say...it’s more interaction, it feels more real to see someone moving around and you get a better idea of who the person is. You can see a picture but then you see a video and you are like aha wait… how they sound, their voice, their body language, you get a totally different perspective of the person through YouTube then through pictures. Because Instagram is usually only pictures other then videos in most cases. [00:15:33]

Christoph: Let’s go back to Bianca. How would you describe the communication between Bianca and her followers?

Julia: Well that’s interesting because there’s a lot of communication between Bianca and her followers. People are super engaged in her and she gets sooo many comments, super personal comments. Both hate and love. A lot of hate which it’s kind of crazy. Like only because she’s public she gets all these. And she answers to them as well. She sometimes post things publicly like when she gets bad comments or really aggressive harassments and stuff. So she share this with her followers and I think she’s kind of trying to explain to them that she’s a person by showing how she feels when she gets these bad comments. But then also, I think she has some competitions and stuff and she tries to interact a lot with her users and followers in different ways. [00:17:49]

Christoph: For example how?

Julia: She posts different discount codes a lot. There’s always some collaborations that she shares with her followers and from what can be seen on her Social media there it is really appreciated and people use it.

That’s what my impression is. [00:18:53]

Simon: You said that a lot of people post bad comments. Or there might be some hate. How do you feel about the fact that people hate on her?

Julia: I think its super unfair because I know it’s such a thing in our digital world now but I think even though you chose to be public on Social media I think it’s ridiculous that people behind their screens harass someone. Just because it’s only it doesn’t mean it’s okay. Its like someone would come up to you on the street and say stuff. That’s not normal. Its super unfair. I mean I probably appreciate everything she does.

I have a lot of opinions as well, maybe I’m like I don’t like that or this is annoying or whatever but I would never actively go and tell her that because she just a person like everyone else. [00:19:13]

Simon: If you would ask her a question. Do you think she would answer?

Julia: Ehm... I don’t know honestly. I never tried to do that. I don’t think I really have questions I want to ask her. [00:19:56]

Christoph: But if you would.

Julia: If I would...I think she gets a lot of comments so if it’s something special like something important then maybe. I wouldn’t expect an answer for example to where did you buy that coat? Maybe if I was lucky I would get an answer from that. Probably that answer is already somewhere else in a tag or whatever. I think she provides a lot of information already. But if I would ask her something related that’s important to her maybe I would get an answer I think. Like for example she has a place in Marbella and if I would write something like, I know the best place in Marbella have been there? Maybe she would answer.

Because we have that in common. [00:20:19]

Christoph: How do you feel is Bianca communicating?

Julia: What do you mean? [00:21:17]

Christoph: Kind of like the topics she’s talking about and how she’s talking about it?

Julia: She’s not very strategic in the way she communicates. I think in some ways yes, definitely. Well she’s very spontaneous and improvises a lot I think. And she doesn’t think about what she says and does a lot. I think she goes a lot on her instinct and then sometimes it ends up really wrong or sometimes really good.

But she’s not at all afraid to say the wrong things, like politically correct stuff. She’s very like dinner table talk basically. [00:21:32]

Christoph: Do you think Bianca is sharing information openly?

Julia: Yes. [00:22:33]

Christoph: How do you think that?

Julia: I think that’s because of all those reasons. And like I said she seems to be very genuine and honest. And what she’s saying is not that filtered. I just feel like she’s very honest and casual and as I said sometimes things turn out really bad when she says things and she gets a lot of angry comments and stuff so I feel doesn’t really pay to much attention on how she communicates or how she shares things. And sometimes if its more professional like collaborations, of course it’s more like strategic and more structured. But when it’s more on a personal level and personal opinions she is super open no matter if it’s provocative or not. [00:22:54]

Christoph: Would you also say she sharing private information?

Julia: Sorry? [00:24:11]

Christoph: Or what would for you be private information?

Julia: She’s very open in like her private life. Like private information would be, she talks a lot about sex and sex life. She talks a lot about her family and issues she has in her family. Like big fights that have been public and her family doesn’t want to talk about, she approaches those things. And she shares a lot of things that I would belief is super private and I would never share with other people or like publicly.

Maybe things that you would tell your best friends but not like a big crowd. It’s not like I would go up on stage and would talk about my problems or stuff. But I feel like she does that. [00:24:26]

Christoph: If you think about Bianca and yourself. How would you describe Bianca compared to yourself?

Julia: Bianca compared to myself? I think we have some things in common. I would say.. It’s hard to put words on it, I never really thought about it before but I think sometimes...Well first of all she’s kind of...If you think about her style and fashion and purchase behaviour in regards the money she spends and the brand she buys its very relatable because I don’t go and buy super expensive things and she buys more

mainstream brands that everyone including me can afford. So in that way I think we kind of.. We use the same brands, we use the same products, we have a summer place in the same country in Spain, in the same city. She loves going out for dinner a lot. I do that a lot with my family too. She has a really close relationship with her family. I have that too. But then we are also a lot different because she’s a public person and she likes the attention and likes to be public. I would never like that. [00:26:17]

Christoph: What do you think? How would others describe Bianca?

Julia: I think that’s very different depending on the person. Like the people who follow her would describe her similarly to how I did but people who don’t follow her has a lot of preconceptions and negative

perspectives on what she’s doing and I think I know a lot of people who are like oh she doesn’t have a talent, this is not a job. Like people, usually older people, don’t really understand or acknowledge influencer as a profession, not a serious and respectful profession. It depends on the person actually. I think some girls or like teenagers really look up to her and I think some are really looking down to her and try to differentiate from her. Where some people try to created a belonging to her. [00:27:27]

Christoph: How do you think Bianca would fit you circle of friends?

Simon: You already mentioned that she could a friend of yours.

Julia: If you look at my specific friend circle I think she would really stand out because she’s kind of all over the place and I think my friends are compared to her openness my friends are a little bit more

sophisticated. But she could probably contribute with a lot of fun and craziness. Like ad a little spice to the group. [00:28:38]

Christoph: What would friends think if you had Bianca as a friend?

Julia: They would probably very curious and be like, but that’s because she’s a public person, so they would be like we know about this person that’s very exciting. How is she actually. They wanted to get to know her maybe. Yeah I think people would like to get to know her because I’m friends with her. [00:29:18]

Simon: If your friends didn’t know who she was, how do you think they would think of Bianca being your friend?

Julia: I think maybe they..Like if they her for the first time with me? Yeah I think.. I don’t know how she would be with a first interaction with people or I don’t know how she actually would be. But from the picture I have of her from Social Media, which is the only picture I actually have, I think that they would think that she is fun and a bit crazy, a bit all over the place, very free spoken but also adding a lot of fun and maybe also a little bit annoying. People could think that she’s like okay take it down a nudge. [00:29:57]

Christoph: How does it make you feel when you look at the content Bianca is publishing?

Julia: It’s different. Sometimes I’m like oh that’s so nice. [00:31:33]

Christoph: What do you think is nice then?

Julia: Like if it’s maybe a brunch picture and then I’m like ach I want to go there, that looks good. Because I love to go to brunch.But if she post something like selfies and in opinion boring content then I would be more like ach again, same things. So it depends on what content. I mostly appreciate like nice pictures and like vacations or nice restaurants. Get some inspiration on places to go and then I feel really good about it when I see those things. Then I feel like nice recommendation, I will put that in my mind next time I’m there. [00:32:00]

Christoph: What does Bianca mean to you?

In document BEYOND PICTURE-PERFECT BRUNCH PLATES (Sider 140-151)