THE DIGITAL ORDER AND THE PRECARIOUS WORK OF THE INFLUENCER: THE WORLD OF WORK AND DATIFICATION ON TIKTOK

• Grant number: 25/05526-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications - Theory of Communication
• Principal Investigator: Roseli Aparecida Figaro Paulino
• Grantee: Jaqueline Michele da Silva Braz
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/05714-0 - Datafication of communication and work activities in communicators' arrangements: the struggles with the determinations of platform companies, AP.TEM

Abstract

The general objective of this master's project is to reflect on and analyze the hypothesis that the work of young digital influencers on the TikTok platform, although precarious, is disguised from an entrepreneurial perspective to naturalize submission to the algorithmic order, since the work can only be performed when it is in accordance with the digital order. Thus, the aim is to investigate the organization of the work of this new category of communicators, digital influencers; and to identify how and by what means digital platform companies capture data on the live work of these workers. With this study, we hope to collaborate towards the recognition of this professional category and draw attention to the level of precariousness of their working conditions, especially among the youngest. (AU)