The Rise of Higher Education Influencers: Digital Discourses on Contemporary College Life

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Four
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT055 (Saturday)

Abstract

This research centers on a creative community I call “higher education influencers” (HEIs) – currently and recently enrolled students who produce college-related content on social networking sites like YouTube for public consumption. Few studies have focused on students who negotiate professional identity formation through digital work and cultural production during their formative university years. Through semi-structured interviews with 15 HEIs who have produced digital college-related content at a highly-selective, four-year university this research project endeavors to answer three questions: (1) What are the range of college-related content and themes that HEIs explore and portray online? (2) How do HEIs explain, justify, and defend decisions they make? (3) How do the digital discourses produced online compare with HEIs offline experiences in college?

Author

• Olugbenga Joseph, Northwestern University