Autoridade e influência: a psicanálise e seu encontro com o digital

Abstract

The use of social media platforms has grown significantly over the years, and according to the Digital 2024 Global Overview Report, Instagram is the preferred platform among Brazilian users. In recent years, there has also been a notable increase in content produced on Instagram by psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts. Considering this expansion, the present study aims to analyze the possible implications of the presence of psychoanalysts on Instagram as therapeutic authorities. The specific objectives are: to discuss the roles of influence, suggestion, and authority throughout the history of psychoanalysis; to investigate how authority and influence are constructed by psychoanalysts on Instagram; to explore the migration of the psychoanalyst to Instagram in light of psychoanalytic ethics; to examine the type of transferential bond induced by the figure of the media-oriented psychoanalyst; and to articulate Instagram videos of psychoanalysts with theoretical psychoanalytic concepts using the indicia method. The methodological steps involved selecting theoretical references concerning the context in which these media figures operate; tracing the historical development of the term “digital influencer”; examining issues of authority and influence from a psychoanalytic perspective; and selecting five videos produced by different media-oriented psychoanalysts, which were analyzed according to categories based on tools from the indicia method. The analytical categories were: the construction of authority and influence by psychoanalysts on Instagram; the displacement of the psychoanalyst to Instagram from the perspective of psychoanalytic ethics; and the type of transferential bond induced by the media figure of the psychoanalyst. It is important to emphasize that these categories were intended to guide the analyses rather than function as rigid or self-contained frameworks. The main results indicate that the digital environment demands visibility, performance, and emotional appeal, which often positions psychoanalysts as public figures or even celebrities. In this position, the content that achieves greater visibility tends to become more generalized, imperative, and aligned with self-help discourse, thereby shifting the psychoanalytic function toward a more prescriptive and media-oriented role. It was also observed that professional titles are frequently used not as indicators of specific theoretical or ethical commitments, but as strategic elements to construct an identity of expertise, branding, or influence. In this context, such titles operate as signs of authority that carry symbolic and market value.