Everyday Participation in the Creator Economy: How Thai Instagram Users Navigate Roles, Visibility, and Meaning
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บทคัดย่อ
This paper examines how everyday users in Thailand engage with social media within the context of platformization and the growing creator economy. While much of the existing research has focused on platforms and professional content creators, less attention has been given to how these changes are experienced in daily life, especially in non-Western, culturally specific settings such as Thailand. This study fills that gap by exploring how ordinary users engage with content, switch between roles, and navigate visibility through their everyday social media practices.
The analysis is based on 72 Instagram posts from 18 Thai user accounts, representing a variety of participation levels, from everyday sharing and storytelling to more curated content. The findings suggest that users are not just passive audiences. Instead, they actively influence content through narrative choices, presentation styles, and awareness of how their posts may be perceived, all while staying grounded in routine activities.
Meanwhile, roles on social media seem increasingly flexible, with users shifting between audience, creator, and participant within the same interaction space. Rather than striving for large-scale influence, they engage with platform dynamics in more subtle, situational ways.
By positioning these practices within the Thai social and cultural environment, this study highlights how local norms, daily routines, and culturally specific expressions shape participation in the creator economy. In doing so, it provides a grounded view of how platform logics are interpreted and experienced through daily use, contributing to broader discussions of digital media beyond Western-centric perspectives.
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1) บทความนี้เป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของสถาบันวิจัยสังคม จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย แต่ความคิดเห็นและเนื้อหาเป็นของผู้แต่ง
2) ทัศนะและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความในวารสารวิจัยสังคมและปริทัศน์ สถาบันวิจัยสังคม จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย ถือเป็นความรับผิดชอบของผู้แต่งบทความนั้น และไม่ถือเป็นทัศนะและความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการวารสารวิจัยสังคมและปริทัศน์ สถาบันวิจัยสังคม จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย กองบรรณาธิการไม่สงวนสิทธิ์ในการคัดลอก แต่ให้ระบุถึงการอ้างอิง
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