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        LIL MIQUELA: ROBOT OR NOT A case study of how virtual influencers may afford posthuman roleplay

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        Publication date
        2020
        Author
        Richters, A.R.
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        Summary
        Today’s social media landscape is inhabited and used by a wide variety of people. A growing group of people has developed fame and fortune on platforms such as Instagram mainly through selfbranding. They are now classified under the umbrella terms that are called influencers and microcelebrities. The way in which these people ‘influence’ is diverse, but it is almost always monetized through cooperating with brands and products. In recent years, a new kind of influencer/microcelebrity rose to popularity. These are the virtual influencers. Their entire character is made up. Their profiles and posts are made and styled by said characters’ maker(s). Sometimes they are presented on multiple platforms, embedded in a transmedia narrative. This research focusses on the case study of the fictional transmedia- and brand character Miquela Sousa on Instagram. In this thesis it will be outlined how Miquela’s posts, her narrative, and the dialogical relationship between her and her audience give reason to reconsider the boundaries between the dichotomies of embodied/human/real versus disembodied/virtual/artificial. The research results will showcase that Miquela’s posts, narrative and the dialogical relationship with her audience affords a kind of posthuman performance and (role)play. Thereby posthumanism will be presented in a different light, one that through fictional phenomena like Miquela is approached in a more positive and appreciative, less paranoid and negative way. Eventually it will be suggested that these terms of embodiment and artificiality should be reconsidered in light of recent developments, such as Miquela, in contemporary digital culture.
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        https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/38773
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