Abstract

It has been previously discussed how fashion mavens use their technical and embodied knowledge to marketize goods and services (Entwistle, 2009). Here, drawing on interviews with Chilean social media influencers in the field of fashion (N: 35) in 2017, and visual and textual analysis of a sample of 90 Instagram stories, this chapter analyzes how influencers do the same, though across their digital networks. We analyze fashion influencers’ economic activity in the framework of economic calculation, value formation, and market performativity developed by Callon et al. (2002) to offer an analysis of how influencers’ calculations —economic and cultural— commodify their knowledge for brands and themselves. The chapter begins by situating the work of influencers as part of an economy –the social media economy—that creates value based on affect, on communities of followers, and reputations of self-branding and content. I then explore how influencers use ‘calculation’ and ‘qualification’ to singularize (or differentiate) goods and themselves from one another in the markets; and how influencers are themselves subjects of calculations by other actors within a market (e.g., branding agencies) aimed at stabilizing the value of their work. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on how influencers experience the commercialization of their knowledge through digital platforms in the social media economy.