Internet celebrity economy and the rise of the “Internet+” era: model analysis and characteristics discussion
In the “Internet+” era, behind the phenomenon of Internet celebrities lies a profound community operation model and its economic influence. Internet celebrities are not just simple Internet celebrities. Behind them are huge communities that maintain fans. The common goal of these communities is to build a sense of group identity. Identity is a psychological need, that is, individuals want to be recognized by others to make up for the lack of success and satisfaction in real life.
Successful Internet celebrities usually go through a four-stage building process: first, dividing similarity groups (Us), then creating unreasonableness (Cause), then looking for “enemies” (Enemy), and finally calling leaders (Follow). These processes are all aimed at forming a three-dimensional community identity by exploring similarities with the audience, thereby enhancing the sense of belonging within the group.
The characteristics of the mobile Internet era have caused significant changes in the amount of information, transmission speed and technical level. The relationship between people and information in real life is becoming increasingly close. Prior to this, there was an obvious duality between information and people, and channel control was the key to business success. Nowadays, information paths are becoming increasingly fragmented and content-based, making information dissemination even more uncontrollable. By attracting like-minded fans, Internet celebrities not only become users, but also become effective channels for information dissemination, thus promoting the rapid development of the “Internet celebrity economy”.
In China, the internet celebrity economy mainly takes the form of e-commerce, game endorsements and public accounts. In April 2016, the “Ten Years Ranking of Chinese Internet Celebrities” launched by Baidu Zhizhi showed that several well-known Internet celebrities such as Annie Baby, Sister Furong and Wang Sicong stood out. Take Papi Jiang as an example. With the help of a multi-platform operation strategy and the combination of content, media and network promoters, she has quickly risen and become the focus of attention. In contrast, the pace of development of foreign Internet celebrities is faster, and professional Internet celebrities appeared earlier. They not only share their lives online, but also turn their passion into a career.
The reason why Internet celebrities can attract fans and actively promote products is mainly based on several core characteristics. First, many influencers have unique skills or expertise and the ability to turn personal interests into successful careers. For example, Italian space blogger Chiara Ferragni has accumulated 6.3 million fans on Instagram and created an independent brand to interact deeply with fans. Secondly, although appearance is widely valued among domestic Internet celebrities, foreign Internet celebrities place more emphasis on the uniqueness of personality and style. Ultimately, true influencers need to have a unique style that they showcase to the fullest in order to attract and maintain a loyal fan base.
On an online platform like YouTube, the growth of Internet celebrities is closely related to the psychological needs of the audience. Internet celebrities attract the attention of fans by producing professional video content. As attention increases, more and more brands choose to cooperate with Internet celebrities, which directly promotes the development of the “Internet celebrity economy”. The interaction of this ecosystem makes Internet celebrities an important commercial promotion medium in the “Internet +” era, reflecting their important role in the modern economy.
To sum up, the rapid rise of the Internet celebrity economy contains the deep integration of community building, personal characteristics and business models, which has brought new changes and opportunities to the communication and consumption methods of modern society.