IPC VRA Lecture - Entrepreneurialism on Social Media: The Case of Instagram Beauty Creators

Join us on 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟴 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝟮:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 - 𝟯:𝟯𝟬 𝗣𝗠 𝘃𝗶𝗮 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 for a VRA Lecture entitled 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 featuring of Dr. Marina de Castro Frid. Register through the link bit.ly/VRALecture-Nov8

Abstract
Beyond digital platforms designed from the onset as marketplaces, social media are increasingly becoming significant spaces for self-employed workers and small entrepreneurs to make their offerings findable, presentable, and available to potential customers. For instance, in Brazil, workers in diverse sectors, from cleaners to street vendors, from manicurists to fitness instructors, have been engaging in digital marketing techniques and expanding the notion of so-called Instagram influencers as they seek to make social media their showcase and income source. This talk will examine the rise of Instagram as a work platform - complemented by a constellation of other applications - for many Brazilians looking to sell physical goods, services, and info products and consider if and how social media may be likewise shaping entrepreneurialism in India and the Philippines. The presentation will focus on the case of beauty professionals, drawing from digital ethnography and in-depth interviews carried out in an ongoing project on transformations in labor in Brazil, India, and the Philippines by researchers at the University College Dublin School of Geography with funding from the European Research Council. 

About the Speaker
Marina Frid is a Research Fellow in the School of Geography at University College Dublin, acting as Associate Director of the DeepLab. She earned her PhD in Social Communication from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil. She studies media and consumer cultures, especially from qualitative approaches. Her current research focuses on beauty work and social media within a broader project, funded by the European Research Council, on precarity, digital platforms, and transformations in labor in Brazil, India, and the Philippines (WorkPoliticsBIP).