Review of Zoe Hurley (2023). Social Media Influencing in The City of Likes: Dubai and the Postdigital Condition

• Published in: Postdigital Science and Education Vol. 5; no. 3; pp. 984 - 990
• Main Author: Hopkyns, Sarah
• Format: Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Zagreb Springer Nature B.V 01-10-2023
• Subjects: 17th century; Actors; Authenticity; Critical Theory; Culture; Developing countries; Feminism; Focus Groups; Influencer marketing; LDCs; Linguistic Theory; Printed Materials; Research methodology; Semiotics; Social Media; Social networks; Dubai United Arab Emirates; United Arab Emirates
• ISSN: 2524-485X; 2524-4868
• DOI: 10.1007/s42438-023-00405-9

(2018: 893) state, ‘we are increasingly no longer in a world where digital technology and media is separate, virtual, “other” to a “natural” human and social life’. In Hurley’s study, the novel framework of theoretical postdigital visual pentimenti involves a layering of methods, including interviews with influencers, marketers, and audience focus groups together with the collection and analysis of an extensive corpus of hashtags, URLs, and screengrabs stored on a digital portfolio platform. In Chapter 3, Hurley (2023) turns to look more closely at constellations of power in relation to the visual capital of social media influencers. The chapter demonstrates these complexities via a case study of ‘#hashtag marketers’ which reveals a new generation of actors from the Global South building assets for global brands.