Aesthetic Branding and Self-Representation in Influencer Culture on Instagram and TikTok

Elizabeth Adeola Monireti, Joshua Ojima Michael Alfa

Abstract


This paper examines aesthetic branding and self-representation in influencer culture on Instagram and TikTok. It argues that influencers do not merely express identity online; they construct recognizable and marketable selves through repeated visual, performative, emotional, and commercial codes. Instagram encourages a curated aesthetic self through polished images, coherent feeds, stories, reels, and lifestyle display, while TikTok promotes a performative aesthetic self through short-form video, sound, humor, remix, trends, and algorithmic discovery. Drawing on self-presentation theory, micro-celebrity theory, and platformization theory, the paper explains how influencers use aesthetic branding to manage visibility, authenticity, audience trust, and commercial value. The discussion shows that authenticity is not separate from branding but is often performed through aesthetic signs such as casual speech, behind-the-scenes content, emotional openness, unfiltered images, and everyday routines. The paper concludes that aesthetic branding is a central form of identity labor in influencer culture, shaped by platform affordances, audience expectations, algorithmic visibility, and brand partnerships. It contributes to mass communication and digital media research by showing how the influencer self becomes styled, circulated, measured, and monetized within platform-based attention economies.

Keywords


aesthetic branding, influencer culture, Instagram, TikTok, self-representation, authenticity, micro-celebrity, platformization.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.52155/ijpsat.v57.2.8245

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