[Air-L] Book launch of Sophie Bishop's Influencer Creep - 29 October at King's College London

[Zeena Feldman]

Dear colleagues,

Next Wednesday, 29 October, Sophie Bishop (University of Leeds) visits KCL’s Department of Digital Humanities to discuss her new book Influencer Creep: How Optimization, Authenticity and Self-Branding Transform Creative Culture<https://www.ucpress.edu/books/influencer-creep/paper> (University of California Press, 2025). The book draws from in-depth ethnography and interviews with influencers and professional artists. Bishop argues that looking to the shifts within influencer culture can help us understand contemporary changes to labour conditions, compensation and representation within creative industries.

Bishop will be in conversation with KCL’s Rafal Zaborowski and Zeena Feldman. A drinks reception will follow. Join us! Register at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/digitalhumanitieskcl/1912207.

Best wishes,
Zeena



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WHAT: Influencer Creep: How Optimization, Authenticity and Self-Branding Transform Creative Culture
WHEN: Wed 29 Oct 2025 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
WHERE: King’s College London, Bush House, room BH(S)2.03
Registration (free): https://www.tickettailor.com/events/digitalhumanitieskcl/1912207

About the speakers:

Sophie Bishop is an Associate Professor in Media and Communications at the University of Leeds. She has been researching the social and cultural implications of the influencer industry for a decade. Sophie has advised policy makers in UK Parliament and the European Union on influencer culture and has written for academic journals New Media & Society, Social Media + Society and Media, Culture & Society and has been interviewed in Paper, Real Life, Financial Times, BBC and The Atlantic. Sophie lives in Manchester, England with her husband, daughter, and two cats. Influencer Creep is her first book.

Zeena Feldman is Reader in Digital Culture in the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London. She is Director of Queer at King’s Research Centre and Co-Director of the Centre for Digital Culture. Her research examines how digital technologies impact understandings of traditionally analogue concepts – for instance, belonging, wellbeing and work. Zeena has published widely, including in Information, Communication & Society, Feminist Media Studies, Celebrity Studies, TripleC and the European Journal of Cultural Studies. Her books include Digital Food Cultures (Routledge, 2020) Art & the Politics of Visibility (IB Tauris, 2017).

Rafal Zaborowski is Senior Lecturer in Digital Culture in the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London. His research looks at the intersections of media audiences, texts, platforms and producers, focusing especially on the role played by media in people's everyday lives. He is interested how social practices of engagements with media correspond to changes in modern digital cultures. Rafal's monograph, Music Generations in the Digital Age (Amsterdam University Press, 2024) explores contemporary digital music culture.

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