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The authors examine the tensions between the public and commercial functions of social media platforms with a particular focus on how Instagram influencers look to demonstrate their “authenticity” whilst also pursuing commercial objectives. Drawing on a large-scale quantitative content analysis of the accounts of prominent Dutch fashion and lifestyle influencers, the authors demonstrate an “authenticity gap” between the way these influencers claim to be authentic in the way they talk about influencer culture, and the extent to which they actually implement “authenticity marker’s” in their Instagram posts.

This chapter analyzes what happens to media use when everyday life is suddenly disrupted, focusing on how the COVID-19 pandemic transformed work, socializing, communication and everyday living. The empirical case is changing media use in Norway during the pandemic, building on a qualitative questionnaire survey conducted in early lockdown, and follow-up interviews eight months later. Expanding on the ideas of destabilization of media repertoires developed in the former chapter, this analysis discusses transforming media repertoires as more digital, as less mobile (but still smartphone-centric) and as essentially social. The chapter further explains new concepts for pandemic media use practices, such as doomscrolling and Zoom fatigue.