Emotions of food influencers regarding digital work and the transmission of food knowledge on Instagram

Abstract

PurposeThis article aims to problematize influencers’ emotional ecologies regarding their digital work as content generators and the emotional ecologies recorded in the food practices they share on their profiles.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured digital interviews and a digital ethnography process in the feeds of the influencers who responded to the interview.FindingsWe find some similarities in the emotional ecologies we analyze. The influencers’ posts reference emotional ecologies such as love for sharing content, eating with others, and cooking, and tiredness referred to planning the meal, cooking, and liking/enjoying concerning eating with others and sharing content. While in the interviews, it has been possible to elucidate the emergence of the logic of pleasure and happiness about showing/reflecting, sharing content, and inspiring and transmitting something to the other, and satisfaction combined with indifference or tiredness, in some cases, concerning the work itself as influencers.Practical implicationsAnalyzing digital consumption and the influencer phenomenon today provides us with tools to think about the current and future society. In the context of technological advances and digitalization processes, it is necessary to open the dialogue to discuss digital labor changes, new workspaces, workers’ relationships with companies/brands/corporations, and the involvement of bodies and emotions there.Social implicationsIt problematizes the effects of digital consumption, food digital practices, and influencers’s work in everyday social practices.Originality/valueThis article addresses the criteria that organize the structuration regime of sensibilities on Instagram regarding food practices and the generation of content based on the figures of Argentinian food influencers.