The social economy: Monetising the transactional nature of social media
Melanie Shreffler and
Amber Mccullough
Additional contact information
Melanie Shreffler: empatiX Consulting, USA
Amber Mccullough: empatiX Consulting, USA
Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing, 2021, vol. 9, issue 3, 243-251
Abstract:
The value proposition of social media for the many people who spend time on such platforms has evolved from being spaces to find, follow and interact with one’s friends to being platforms that provide acceptance and a sense of closeness among strangers. This shift became more apparent in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic; with loneliness on the rise, social media has become the de facto answer to a looming crisis by offering a welcoming virtual community at one’s fingertips. Influencers and individual creators are capitalising on this shift, building businesses and monetising their followings — and brands have the opportunity to do the same with their communities. Gone are the days of finding it strange to pay for social content or ‘chip in’ to a creator — apps like Venmo and Cash App have made it easier than ever to send money in a way that feels like you are simply supporting a friend. This new era of monetising social transactions is not only for the little guys, but big brands have also entered the fray by tapping into micro influencers and leveraging social selling techniques that feel more intimate and personal, even in a digital environment. Readers of the article will gain an understanding of transactional trends that are occurring in the social space. As social platforms continue to evolve it is imperative to understand the impacts to all players to better prepare for the future.
Keywords: influencers; microinfluencers; creators; community; monetisation; transactions; tipping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://hstalks.com/article/6672/download/ (application/pdf)
https://hstalks.com/article/6672/ (text/html)
Requires a paid subscription for full access.
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jdsmm0:y:2021:v:9:i:3:p:243-251
Access Statistics for this article
More articles in Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing from Henry Stewart Publications
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Henry Stewart Talks ().