Influenciadores digitais : novas relações de trabalho e disciplinamento da força de trabalho

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the development of the activities of digital influencers, as an immediate reflection of the moment of transformation in which our society lives and the way we think about work, with the evolution of the paradigm of the discipline society to the performance society, which focuses on the individual, consumption and commercialization of the self. Lacking a regulation that accompanies the development of their activities, the empirical object of this analysis seeks to understand how digital influencers understand the work they do and if they organize collectively to build a legal framework for the protection of their activities. For data collection, we used observation, documentary and video analysis, literature review on the theme, and interviews with actors who perform their activities in cyberspaces. We also used the methodology developed by Gabriel Tarde, aiming to understand how the engagement used by Digital Influencers to mobilize their followers takes place, and how this process of forming an audience originates in order to establish its theoretical basis, in addition to content analysis, which allowed us to conduct an in-depth research about mass communication messages. We have tried to investigate, therefore, the nature of the activities carried out by these actors in order to identify the elements of coalition among them and, thus, identify subsidies that can articulate their struggles for the regulation and recognition of this new modality of work. Thus, we are faced with a reality marked by contradictions. The result that we obtained from the research confirms the hypothesis raised, in the sense that the Law, as a cultural product, is really ineffective in keeping up with the new work relations that are being built in the social conjuncture. However, for the legislation to advance in the protection of these agents, it will be necessary not only to understand the nature of the activities performed by these actors, but it will also be necessary to deconstruct this identity created by the new spirit of capitalism that strongly radiates in the networks, making them see their profession as something totally disconnected from the pre-existing legal apparatuses.