“Social Media Influencer” is a word that is used to describe natural persons who have become well-known through a high presence in the social media and who, due to their media presence, can exert a considerable influence on the opinions and behaviour of a large number of people.
“Social media influencers” stand out from other types of influencers in that they are closely connected to a large number of so-called followers via digital social networks. Marketing and public relations work with social media influencers to achieve their advertising goals.
The emergence of social media influencers is based on the establishment of social networks in the course of digitisation. Due to their attributed influence on public opinion, they can lead to a change in the structure of interaction that shaped public discourse for a long time. They thus play a considerable role in the process of digital transformation of the social system in which public opinion is formed.