The story of a group of Québec influencers enjoying the “party of the year” on board a Sunwing flight in complete defiance of health restrictions made headlines at the beginning of January, not just in Québec and in Canada, but also internationally and, of course, in social media. Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the partiers “idiots.”
The Sunwing saga highlighted the role of influencers, which in this case was negative, but they are still considered role models followers identify with, or whose example they want to follow. (Unsplash/Mateus Campo Felipe), CC BY-NC-ND
I was particularly intrigued by this case, as my doctoral dissertation focuses on the engagement relationship between followers and influencers on social media. How do we explain how the phenomenon became so widespre...
