Break The Internet

When I was a teenager, I accidentally became internet famous. This was years before selfies, sponsorship deals and sell-out merchandise lines: in fact, before the term 'influencer' itself. I ran an anonymous Tumblr blog, which eventually, as I got older, I grew bored of and abandoned. My fascination with digital cultures and the online fame game remained, however, particularly as some of my Tumblr contemporaries went on to gain millions of followers, massive public platforms and become part of a new breed of social media superstar. Today I work in social media on the other side of the screen: as a professional marketer helping brands to leverage digital influence.

Traditional media is over. The internet reigns. And in the attention economy, influencers are royalty. But who are they … and how do you become one?

Break the Internet takes a deep dive into the influencer industry, tracing its evolution from blogging and legacy social media such as Tumblr to today's world in which YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok dominate. Surveying the new media landscape that the rise of online celebrity has created, it is an insider account of a trend which is set to dominate our future " experts estimate that the economy of influence will be valued at $24bn globally by 2025.

Olivia Yallop enrols in an influencer bootcamp, goes undercover at a fan meetup, and shadows online vloggers, Instagrammers, and content creators to understand how online personas are built, uncovering what it is really like to live a branded life and trade in a 'social stock market'. From mumfluencers and activists to governments and investors, everyone wants to build their online influence. But how do you stay authentic in a system designed to commodify identity? Break the Internet examines both the dangers and the transformative potential of online culture.

Break the Internet
Author: Olivia Yallop
Scribe Publishing