Under the finfluence: Financial influencers, economic meaning-making and the financialization of digital life

Economy & Society (2024) (w/Ambreen Ben-Shmuel)
—–
This paper explores the rise of financial influencers (‘finfluencers’) on social media and their impact on shaping financial subjectivities. Employing the dual theoretical frameworks of economy-as-communication and financialization of everyday life, we uncover how finfluencers transform individuals’ understanding of and engagement with personal finance through digital storytelling, strategic use of syntax and symbols, participatory engagement and diverse representation. Finfluencers make financial topics more accessible, but in doing so they also accelerate the financialization of everyday life by normalizing finance and investing as mainstream preoccupations…