The aim of the study is to construct a new approach to the visual communication literature based on social network sites as a digital packaging. Social media influencers, public figures and celebrities as a digital product on SNS are the subject of this research. The main research question of the study is ‘how a representation of human being transformed into a digital product in SNS?’. Also, the study is investigating following three more research questions:
What is a digital consumption product on SNS?;
How SMIs become a digital consumption product on SNS?;
How SNS accounts become SMI’s digital package?.
With the rise up of Social Network Sites (SNS) use and born the Social media influencers (SMIs) term caused changes in terminology and digital post flow. Also, SNS become the most consumed medium by Generation Y (Gen Y) and SMIs become new media’s opinion leaders who shape audience behaviours and thoughts (Gaines-Ross, 2003 and Szczurski, 2017). Today, every minute on SNS 41,6 million messages sent over the platforms. (wearesocial.com, 2020) Every message sent by an SNS user who has an account on platforms with their personal information and personal asset preferences. All these accounts create content, information flow and which is lead by Digital Influencers who have popular accounts and they set social media trends based on celebrity culture. According to the demanders and follower attitude and reaction they become a digital consumption product (with post contents and information on SNS as a human being) with carefully prepared digital packages (with their personal account on SNS) to represent ideas or trends on SNS.
This research focuses on defining new key terms of the based on Lev Manovich's Language of the New Media perspective who focus on the software and visuals esthetic representation relationship in the digital age and he created a way to understand differences about new media and visuals reading. In his work, he explained key terms about the theory of new media, the organization, principles, mapping structure of the new media and define new media language, object and representation approach terms with details. These terms used as the main structure of constructing new terminology for construct new visual representation approach and analysis system. Also, this research will use Per Ledin and David Machin practices from the book “Doing Visual Analysis from Theory to Practice” (Ledin and Machin, 2018) to analysis the SMIs profile visual on their SNS as a digital package in the visual communication approach and understand how digitisation of materials and how digital consumerism change the way to visual representation in SNS.
The goal of this study, with the definition of these key terms, create a path between SNS user interface and digital package representation perspective.