Fame Labor: A Critical Autoethnography of Australian Digital Influencers

Abstract

Abstract This chapter reports on findings from a critical autoethnography (Anderson, 2006) about the strategies and experiences of male microcelebrities from Australia. The author Jonathan Mavroudis, himself identifies as a microcelebrity with a following of over 27,000 on Instagram at the time of writing. This position granted him insider access to this specific cohort and the microcelebrity world in general. The study comprised participant interviews, analyses of the author’s own experiences, and a survey of over 500 of his Instagram followers. The author draws from these data sources to introduce the concept of “fame labor.” Fame labor reconfigures the way visibility labors such as self-branding labor is understood. It offers a macro perspective that relates to nonmicrocelebrities as well as microcelebrities and illuminates potential wider implications of microcelebrity culture.