(Source: Vogue, 2023)
As digital space expands, open communication increases by eliminating real-world boundaries such as appearance (Chen, 2013); thus, user-to-user-driven communication in online spaces is a crucial way to create personal branding (Vitberg, 2010). Social media, like YouTube, surfaced as a significant platform for self-representation where users perceived themselves as the platform’s subject (Pace, 2008). As self-presentation transforms into a way for users to market themselves through personal branding (Lampel & Bhalla, 2007), many so-called online influencers indulge in the participatory culture. Thus, for social media amateurs, personal branding and authenticity play a crucial role in differentiating themselves from other creators (Chen, 2013). In the long run, being authentic to the audience is the key to maintaining success in online platforms as a creator. However, authenticity has challenges throughout one’s online career stages. One example of a social media influencer implementing an adaptive and agile strategy of authenticity maintenance is Emma Chamberlain. Therefore, this essay will explore how Chamberlain employed strategies to remain authentic and cultivate distinctive branding throughout her fluctuating YouTube career.Â
Chamberlain stems all of her content from maintaining a similar level of authenticity in her online presence. Initially a content creator on Vine, Chamberlain began to post her daily vlogs to her YouTube channel in 2018. This transition from Vine to YouTube was pivotal in her career as she showcased her raw personality and storytelling skills in more depth. Based on the literature, authenticity is a product of being truthful to oneself with reflective behaviour to one’s intrinsic behaviour rather than external expectations (Kernis & Goldman, 2006; Wood et al., 2008; Kernis, 2003; Tisdell, 2003). It can be seen from her genuine approach to vlogging that Chamberlain revolves her content around her personality and humour, sometimes including active interaction with the audience through polls and comment shoutouts to facilitate two-way communication, thus creating a parasocial relationship with her audience that feels intimate and real (Eyal & Dailey, 2012). Furthermore, with her outgoing personality, Chamberlain treated her audience as her friends, often breaking the fourth wall by constantly talking and asking questions to the camera with a conversational tone. This virtual, interactive, and close relationship is strategically framed via authenticity and can help foster the perception that influencers have complete creative control over their content (Audrezet et al., 2020). Adding that to the layer of a unique editing method, Chamberlain will often use Ken Burns or similar editing effects to emphasise a ‘feeling’ in her videos, primarily to reflect her awkwardness and bad jokes. These imperfections create the feeling of authenticity and connection, reflecting that both herself and the audience are regular, unpolished people. Consequently, Chamberlain successfully executes a concept authentic to her persona and maintains a loyal audience.Â
However, authenticity is more than leaving imperfections in the content’s final cut; it expresses the creator’s authentic and genuine thoughts about their life story. As influencers’ income is closely tied to their online reputation and monetisation strategies (Caplan & Gillespie, 2020), they face a dilemma between balancing their original creative freedom with the need to generate revenue. This may impact their authentic image as influencers may be tempted to prioritise content that reflects their monetisation strategies, especially with the strict YouTube monetisation guidelines (Nielsen & Ganter, 2018; Cunningham & Craig, 2019). In the case of Chamberlain, while acknowledging the rise in fame of her reputation over the past few years, Chamberlain decided to make a change in her content, cutting down the frequency of her uploads and only focusing on creating content when she had the inspiration. While this method contradicts the literature review of numerous studies regarding virtual interactivity and posting rate that ensure influencers’ success (Liu et al., 2020; Arora et al., 2019; Chen, 2013), Chamberlain is still getting the high number of followers interaction, thus creating a paradox where less content means more significant engagement. Chamberlain’s method is possible because she has established a strong relationship with her audience through authenticity. Nowadays, while her content is less frequent than a few years ago, the vlog is done intriguingly, where she often does not verbalise what she feels and instead uses footage that invokes her feelings as if she has elements of her genuineness embedded implicitly through her videos. Consequently, she is not illustrating the illusion that she is still the ‘2018 Emma’ as her interviews now show her growth but also exemplify the YouTube vlogger her audience has been related to.
As her number of followers grows, Chamberlain’s content evolves through authenticity-driven collaborations and their positive impact on the audience’s perception. By harnessing multiple entrepreneurial strategies, online creators can use participatory fan communities to become commercially valuable (Cunningham & Craig, 2019). Chamberlain approaches collaboration and sponsorships with transparency within her videos, maintaining her candid and genuine style in sponsored content and clearly mentioning when a video is sponsored. This is aligned with what Audrezet et al. (2020) have asserted, that influencers can foster relationships with brands through their authenticity and create the perception of honesty about using and liking endorsed products (Mishra et al., 2015). As influencers are nowadays more connected with the audience because they can rely on their authenticity (Kietzmann et al., 2011), they can deliver the genuineness of their motives, shaping the audience’s behavioural intentions and perceptions (Kapitan et al., 2022; Kapitan & Silvera, 2016). In Chamberlain’s case, she carefully selects partnerships that align with her interests and values. For instance, she has collaborated with eco-conscious brands and promoted products that resonate with her audience’s concern about sustainability (e.g., Fabletics, Allbirds, Reformation). Furthermore, rather than appearing overly promotional, her partnerships reflected sincere recommendations based on her personal experiences. This method certifies that her audience understands the value of the promoted product and does not perceive it as merely an advertisement. Consequently, regardless of numerous partnerships and brand deals, Chamberlain maintains her audience's interest through authenticity and careful selection of products that reflect her values.Â
In conclusion, Chamberlain has grown her reputation through genuine authenticity despite the contemporary social influencer culture challenges. As her fame and number of followers grow, her audience still resonates with her content because authenticity has played a central role in Chamberlain’s audience and brand building. Her case study showed the enduring authenticity significance in influencing marketing and reflects its power in connecting with consumers on a deep level. Consequently, Chamberlain’s influencer career exemplifies how consistent persona and originality have driven her success as a content creator.
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