Influencers shape what we buy, what we watch, and who we trust online. The research behind how they do it is growing fast, but most of it is locked away in academic journals and written for other researchers.

Influencer News translates that research for everyone else. We summarize academic studies on social media influencers, virtual influencers, and influencer marketing in plain, readable language, so you can learn what the evidence actually says without wading through statistics and jargon. We also cover news about the world of influencers.

How we write our summaries

Every summary is written in our own words and links to the original article so you can read the full study. Summaries are brief by design, so they can’t capture every detail, method, or limitation. If a finding matters to you, we encourage you to go to the source.