Playing to be influencers: A comparative study on Spanish and Colombian young people on Instagram

This paper explores and describes how Colombian and Spanish young people present themselves on Instagram according to the social game and the symbolic capital that they infer as normative from influencers. The methodology used combines the focus group technique (seven groups) with a content analysis of the profiles of the informants (N = 651). In total, 53 first-year creative industries university students participated. The results show that the work developed by the influencers has given rise to an aspirational narrative genre that young people tend to emulate according to the Instagram habitus in order to be recognised as leading players. Their self-presentation has three main features: a) a preference for showing ‘in-classifying’ practices such as leisure and tastes for freedom; b) the predominance of a specific type of profile and gestures that avoids self-production markers and aspires towards a global audience; and c) the normalisation of self-promotional discourse. Most informants experience Instagram as a game in which they compete to accumulate visibility conceived as relational validation, although in the case of Colombian informants there is a more professional outlook towards the platform. Finally, for all of them, Instagram constitutes a serious game, and many of them admit to feeling too exposed. As a result, they have implemented self-surveillance practices, such as consulting with peers before posting photographs, using secondary accounts and deleting posts.

The impact of independent campus learning program (MBKM) through matching fund program for lecturers, students and partners in Minggirsari Village, Blitar

One of the activities in the implementation of the Independent Campus Learning Program (MBKM) has been implemented through the Matching Fund program which was held in Minggirsari Village, Blitar. This activity has succeeded in establishing the Creative Economy and Tourism Research Center. The potential of Minggirsari village is divided into 17 sub-sectors based on creative economy sub sector, namely game development, architecture, interior design, music, fine arts, product design, fashion, culinary, film-animation-video, photography, visual communication design, TV-radio, crafts, advertising, performing arts, publishing and applications. The synergy between intellectuals, business, and government is the main actor driving the birth of creativity, ideas, science and technology that are vital for the growth of creative industries in Indonesia. Based on the existing potential, this activity provides the widest possible learning space to improve students' ability in creative thinking and critical thinking to enter the business world. In addition, this activity is also a forum for lecturers to develop research results on the creative economy. This activity also facilitates village residents to get provisions in developing their potential to help build Minggirsari village into a creative economy village. For this reason, this research is expected to be able to measure the impact resulting from learning activities that have been carried out through the matching fund program for lecturers, students and partners. This research uses a quantitative approach with a survey method. Data analysis in this study used descriptive data analysis methods.

The Acting Class and the Myths of Meritocracy

Our feature documentary The Acting Class (2017) is here contextualised in the context of a critique of the cultural industries as part of the ideology of meritocracy and a resurgence of work around class in the sociology of culture. The Acting Class focuses on the question of class stratification in the UK acting industry. We here review our research on this issue and contextualise it within the scholarly literature on diversity and inequality, the creative industries and the broader reconfigurations of the political economy of British capitalism. We also discuss the importance of the interview in creative practice research as a way of democratising knowledge production and socialising experience.