Desinfluencing beyond activism: a credibility resource

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22409/a0zwpx44

Keywords:

Communication Studies, Digital Culture, Genres, Desinfluencing, YouTube

Abstract

The essay proposes thinking of disinfluence (Pereira, 2025; Apostol; Asiminei, 2025; Elsantil et al., 2025) as part of the creative repertoire of digital influencers, seeking to go beyond the conception of anti-consumer activism. The theoretical hypothesis for this reflection is that disinfluence has become a resource for building credibility in an advanced phase of professionalisation of the influence market. To illustrate this proposal, the essay presents a set of twelve videos, on YouTube, from three decoration influencers, from three countries (Brazil, Canada and Australia), to broaden the view of ‘disinfluence’ and understand the creative processes that give rise to new genres on platforms. Based on a thematic selection of the corpus, the reflection used immersion in these profiles, with script analysis (Carreiro, 2021), resulting in the organisation of the material into four argumentative axes of disinfluence within the decoration niche.

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Author Biography

  • Leticia Cantarela Matheus, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)

    Professora de Relações Públicas e pesquisadora bolsista Prociência da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Doutora em Comunicação pela Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). 

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Published

2026-09-30

How to Cite

Desinfluencing beyond activism: a credibility resource. (2026). Media and Everyday Life, 20(3), 136-153. https://doi.org/10.22409/a0zwpx44