Perspectives on the Phenomena of Social Media Use by Leaders and Social Media Influencers Findings From an Online International Collaborative Project Among Students in Peru, the United States of America, and North Macedonia

Abstract

"There has been an increasing interest in social network communication among young students worldwide. In that sense, this explorative study aims to understand students’ perspectives on social media use by leaders and the current phenomena of social media influencers (SMI). The research was set within an international university venture module that employs tools of information and communication technologies. The data collection came from a project among students in Peru, the United States of America, and North Macedonia in which students worked through Zoom meetings. The purpose of this course was to deliver a group presentation that identified how some leaders use social media in their cultures. As a result, students produced a report with content, images, and pictures of the leaders previously selected in a common area in each country. One topic that inductively emerged was that despite cultural differences among the groups, most students identified social media influencers as leaders and emphasized female influencers’ advocacy of women’s empowerment. This study provides a further understanding of the impact of social media on the concept of leadership for young people despite cultural differences like being more individualist or collectivist, with high-context or low-context styles of communication. Finally, this study confirms the existence of a new SMI industry with direct implications for our society.

Keywords: social media, social media influencers, leadership, communication, cultures"