ABSTRACT
Social media platforms have been understood as the “governors of the new public squares” (Klonick 2018), regulating freedom of expression and interaction. The impact of private governance, however, is not only consequential for users as citizens but also as consumers. Given the reliance of platforms on advertising for revenue, users are targeted with commercial messaging interspersed with user-generated content, and this interpellation as consumers brings with it additional legal frameworks due to associated harms and vulnerabilities. Critically, monetization of content goes beyond “platform ads” as influencers also integrate advertising into their ongoing curation of relatable and authentic self-brands and the cultivation of parasocial relationships with audiences. That is, influencer marketing is one of the many business models that enable influencers to earn revenue from their content. As such, Goanta (2023b) proposes our “new social media” are characterized by “content monetization” along with “social commerce.” To understand this emerging, dynamic phenomenon, conceptually and empirically, the HUMANads project theoretically and empirically examines the regulation of content monetization and contributes to the development of regulatory frameworks and digital monitoring tools for consumer protection.
