I came across several studies from a group that have been investigating what could be described as education influences. Those of us who have attended educational conferences and followed educational topics on social media likely can identify several of the individuals these scholars now study. Back when Cindy and I attended several tech conferences a year, the same names seemed to surface across conferences as invited or highlighted speakers. Social media has increased the visibility of individuals who would qualify in this category.
The cast of characters seems somewhat different as some of the individuals I saw at conferences do not all expend their energy posting to social media. Others by way of high level of online activity and a message that attracts followers seem to have emerged without face to face appearances. More and more the payed invitations to present at conferences probably follows rather than precedes social media activity.
Because I come from a research tradition and attend researched focused conferences as well as what I would describe as conferences that were mainly attended by practitioners, I have always been intrigued by the lack of overlap between what seem two different worlds. The “rockstars” of one setting seem either invisible or avoiding the other setting. My training would argue that this is not the way it is supposed to work.
Personal observations aside I have come across a group investigating educational influencers and recommend their observations for consideration (see references at the conclusion of this post).
The work of the individuals I am now reading focus heavily on the role of social media and identify two concepts of interest – the micro-celebrity and the social media influencer. I will try to summarize their thinking but as always I encourage the reading of primary sources.
A micro-celebrity comes across as an ordinary person (probably a teacher or administrator in the beginning) who takes advantage of thoughtful self-presentation skills and engagement with online individuals they might encounter to increase their perceived status. They weave in their personal lives in their social media presentation and interactions to develop a sense of authenticity and connectedness. To some, the sense that one is reading or listening to the experiences of regular people is consistent with the understanding of social media as a democratic environment.
Once established some micro-celebrities take advantage of their followers to accept compensation for endorsing products and practices. The articles I cite seem to focus more on compensation for focusing on others and commercial products, but I would suggest that many I categorize in this group promote themselves and their own content. For example, they suggest their potential as a conference presenters or providers of professional development. Authors of texts and resources such as those available through teachers pay teachers would be included.
Without completely condemning this trend, the scholars studying this phenomena note that this process of micro-celebrity emerging as influences can have detrimental consequences. One area they have investigated is the qualify of resources available through teachers pay teachers focusing on content for the teaching of history. Analysis of these resources indicating that some of the resources are inaccurate and some even racist. They point to a concern that services such as teachers pay teachers exercise little effort a quality control. They have lobbied for improvements in such efforts. The concerns they express seem similar to what so many regulators are concerned about with the general lack of monitoring of information quality from politicians appearing on social media sites.
Carpenter, J. P., Shelton, C. C., & Schroeder, S. E. (2022). The education influencer: A new player in the educator professional landscape. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 1-16.
Harris, L. M., Archambault, L., & Shelton, C. C. (2021). Issues of quality on Teachers Pay Teachers: an exploration of best-selling US history resources. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 1-19. [for a resource not behind a pay wall see this article from Slate]
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