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April 15, 2023
Influencing has become a massive, powerful industry, and this book explains how it happened. "If you want to understand mainstream female culture today," writes McNeal, "you should examine how influencers have contributed to it." As a culture reporter for BuzzFeed News, she has been writing about bloggers, vloggers, and influencers for years, and she admits to being personally addicted to influencers. The author is surprised that the industry hasn't attracted more analytical attention given the massive amounts of money involved and the huge number of people affected. She muses that it might be due to the fact that most influencers are women, as are most of those who follow them. McNeal focuses primarily on three successful influencers: one who works mainly in the fashion field, a "mommy blogger," and another who specializes in running and health. They have built large followings, which generates incredible incomes through sponsorships, affiliate programs, and advertising, and they also receive mountains of free merchandise. However, there are ethical concerns about displaying one's children for public consumption as well as the blurring of the line between private and public life. A problem for influencers is the intense criticism that they attract, and there are even websites such as Get Off My Internets that are dedicated to snarky attacks. Influencers must walk the fine line between authenticity and authority even though it is constantly moving. McNeal makes many salient points, but the book is not without flaws. Readers may question whether the three women are typical of the influencer community, and some might find the author's adulatory, sometimes breathless tone to be grating. Nevertheless, her knowledge of the subject is undeniable, and her view that influencers are now critical elements of the social and commercial landscape is valid. McNeal has the experience, understanding, and insight to explain the influencer industry and the impact it has on society.

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April 10, 2023
BuzzFeed News reporter McNeal debuts with an entertaining inquiry into the not-so-secret lives of social media celebrities. She explores “what it really feels like to be an influencer” through profiles of three “content creators”: lifestyle blogger Caitlin Covington, Fat Girl Running blogger Mirna Valerio, and Mormon “mommy blogger” Shannon Bird. To illustrate the hard work required to succeed as an influencer, McNeal details how Covington struggled to break into the magazine industry before creating her own fashion blog that she laboriously grew until she had enough clout to launch a clothing line and secure brand partnerships. The author suggests that influencers can affect positive change and tells how Valerio used her platform to push Lululemon to improve their plus-size sports apparel options. Describing the complexities that accompany leading a public life, McNeal discusses how Bird’s blog posts, which feature her five children, raise tough questions about whether parents should be putting their kids in the spotlight, but the author remains generally positive toward her subjects and praises Bird for showing “how motherhood is messy and complicated.” McNeal’s compassionate profiles add nuance to influencer stereotypes, and behind-the-scenes details intrigue (successful influencers hire teams of assistants who have to learn their bosses’ emoji usage to respond to direct messages in their voice). It’s a revealing look behind the selfie camera.