Caroline DiCosmo

Caroline DiCosmo

My name is Caroline and I am completing my fourth year at Ryerson to graduate this Spring with a BA in Professional Communications and Minor in Sociology. Through my academic career, I have completed internships at Marketing and Public Relations agencies, which influenced my interest surrounding credibility on social media.

Research

The field of my research that I conducted is health and nutrition within social media. Over the last several months, I learned more about Influencers on Instagram, in particular, how this affects our health. Social media and health have previously been linked through major themes such as body image and low self-esteem. I wanted to explore the gap in the research, which is what was this study aims to understand: how influencers can impact nutrition trends, and how they persuade their followers to purchase healthy items.

A light blue poster with a white border, featuring the title 'INSTAGRAM HEALTH INFLUENCERS' by Caroline DiCosmo in the center. Research Question 1 (RQ1) in the top left asks: 'How do Instagram influencers impact nutrition trends, specifically in natural health foods and other 'nutritionist' recommended items?' Research Question 2 (RQ2) in the bottom right asks: 'What discourse and tactics are used by influencers to persuade their followers to purchase health items?' Illustrations include a mango and a carrot in the top right, two avocado halves (one on the left, one on the right), and a carton of soy milk next to a cup of green tea in the bottom left.
Lightning Talk
Project Webpage

Project Tags

social media, health, nutrition, influencer, Instagram, marketing, influence
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