Almost human? A comparative case study on the social media presence of virtual influencers

Jbid Arsenyan and Agata Mirowska ()
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Jbid Arsenyan: ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business, IRT b-com - Institut de Recherche Technologique b-com
Agata Mirowska: NEOMA - Neoma Business School, IRT b-com - Institut de Recherche Technologique b-com

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Abstract: As virtual agents become prevalent in many domains, virtual influencers have gone live on social media platforms, integrating human networks and interacting with users. Building on research on human-computer interactions, the Uncanny Valley hypothesis, and Computers Are Social Actors paradigm, this paper aims to investigate (1) virtual agents' similarity to humans in terms of behaviour in human networks and (2) reactions to human versus virtual agents in human networks where this interaction is publicly visible. We analyse the posting behaviour of and reactions to one human, one human-like virtual, and one anime-like virtual influencer active on a popular social media platform via text and emoji postings over an 11month period. We found that, despite the general positive atmosphere of the platform, the human-like virtual influencer receives significantly lower positive reactions, providing evidence for the UV. Additional measures of negative reactions show a similar pattern. We discuss these results within the context of authenticity and social identity on social media, providing recommendations for the implementation of virtual influencers in human social networks.

Keywords: Virtual agent Uncanny Valley Computers Are Social Actors virtual influencer Instagram emoji analysis; Virtual agent; Uncanny Valley; Computers Are Social Actors; virtual influencer; Instagram; emoji analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05176250v1
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Published in International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2021, 155, pp.102694. ⟨10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102694⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05176250

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102694

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