“A new kind of participant in journalistic activity”

Ms Merten, how important are influencers in terms of shaping political opinion in Germany?

More than a third of people in Germany use social media to find out about news and political developments. So political influencers certainly have a role here alongside other players. These might be people who have their roots in journalism, such as Jan Böhmermann and Sophie Passmann. But there are also content creators with other specialisms such as fitness, fashion or music who comment on political and social issues as well. They’re particularly interesting.

Why?

We conducted a study to analyse the people who follow the 500 largest Instagram accounts in Germany. Almost 70 percent of them don’t follow a single journalistic or political account. So when a popular athlete or celebrity singer makes a statement, it can have a major impact, simply because their audience doesn’t follow political sources and may not even consume much news outside of social media.

Can this be a problem sometimes?

If influencers are the only source of political opinion for users, then we quickly come up against the issue of a lack of diversity of opinion and disinformation. The more seminal influencers become in terms of our news consumption, the sooner we should start treating them like regular journalists who have to adhere to journalistic due diligence. 

Your project runs under the umbrella of the Research Institute for Social Cohesion. What does social cohesion have to do with influencers?

Political influencers are a new kind of participant in journalistic activity because together with their audience they can negotiate which topics and values are relevant to society. They contribute different voices and introduce greater diversity to the debate.