This document summarizes research on social capital and influence among online food influencers. It presents the research objectives, which include characterizing influential actors, examining their online networks, and understanding professional groups in social media. The methodology section describes data collection from online questionnaires, ego network analysis of social media profiles, and interviews. Preliminary results find that influential food bloggers online are often women passionate about cooking who have transformed their hobby into a profession. Analysis of YouTube videos and Facebook pages finds the most popular food channels and pages. The research aims to provide insights into how professional groups leverage social media.

1. THE SOCIAL CAPITAL OF ONLINE INFLUENCERS:
EVIDENCE FROM THE FOOD INDUSTRY
Riccardo De Vita (r.devita@gre.ac.uk)
University of Greenwich Business School, London
Ivana Pais (ivana.pais@unicatt.it)
Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan
Cecilia Manzo (manzo@eco.unibs.it)
Universita’ di Brescia
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

2. 2/37
• The research project
Agenda
Paris, May 3rd 2012
• Theoretical framework
• Methodology
• The food industry: first results
• Conclusions
• Q&As
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

3. The research project 3/37
The research team
• Scientific partners
o Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
o University of Greenwich
• Media:
o Gummy Industries
o La Nuvola del Lavoro (Corriere.it)
o Trovolavoro.it (Rcs)
• Data management and IT:
o Basili.co
o Reputation Manager
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

4. The research project 4/37
Communication and media
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

5. The research project 5/37
Research objectives
Characteristics
of influential
Background,
actors online
motivations, use of
social media
Overall network
structure (different
approaches)
Online
Professional networks of
group influential
actors
Egonetwork analysis on
different SNS
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

6. The research project 6/37
The contribution of our study
• Growing theoretical and empirical evidence of the topic
• Emphasis on online “large networks” and overall network
structures
o Deep analysis of limited number of selected actors
• Conflicting and not standard approaches in the literature
o Empirical approach to the identification of prominent actors online
and subsequent analysis of their characteristics
• Prevalence of quantitative studies, limited presence of mixed-
method approaches
o Integration of different research techniques
Bellotti, 2008; Fuhse and Mützel, 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

7. Theoretical background 7/37
Social media and professional groups
• Sociology of professional • Technological development
groups:  online social capital
o Problematic, rising or hybrid • Social network sites as
groups intentional organizations vs
o Work activities
appropriable social
organisations (Coleman,
• Professionalism: 1990)
o Expansion of knowledge-
based work and occupations
o Organizational/occupational
• Social media as a new space
professionalism
where professional groups
o Changing conditions of can build their identities and
trust, discretion, cooperation can achieve social visibility
and competence
• Social media as a new
• Social visibility  social setting for studying
network professional groups
• Discourse of…  social
media
Demazière and Gadéa 2009; Evetts and Svensson, 2010
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

8. Theoretical background 8/37
Influence, a network approach
• Opinion leaders as intermediaries between the mass media and
society  influence is not an atomistic process (Katz and
Lazarsfeld, 1955)
• Opinion leaders as brokers across groups (Burt, 1999)
o Contagion by cohesion, information to groups
o Contagion by equivalence, adoptions within the group.
• Relevance of easily influenced actors instead of influential actors
• Influence as local, dynamic process which can then result in
global transformation (Watts and Dodds, 2007)
• However different processes exist to identify opinion leaders
(Valente and Pumpuang, 2007)
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

9. Theoretical background 9/37
The identification of online influencers
Social Networks
Linkedin
Twitter
Facebook
Connections Contents
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

10. Methodology 10/37
The data collection process
Define Search Rank
F2F Social Network Online
interview Analysis Questionnaire
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

11. Methodology 11/37
The online questionnaire
• Personal background
• Professional activity
• Use of the web
• Online networks
• Objectives and achievements through the use of social media
• Reputation and influence in the professional group
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

12. Methodology 12/37
The Egonetwork Analysis
• Online ego networks collected through an online application
o Facebook
o Twitter
o Linkedin
• Ego to alter connections and alter to alter connections
• When available alters’ basic attributes collected (e.g. Age,
location, bio)
• Ego network measures: size, subgroup, density
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

13. Methodology 13/37
The face to face interview – Influential actors’ social networks
• Relevant professional networks
o Online
o Offline
• Data interpretation and sense making of online networks
o Facebook
o Twitter
o LinkedIn
• Importance of a mixed method approach to the interpretation of
social networks
Bellotti, 2008; Fuhse and Mützel, 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

14. Methodology 14/37
The empirical setting/professional groups
Formal
Construction Law/Legal
professional
groups Engineers - TBC professions
Informal
professional Food Finance
groups
Product Service
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

15. Results 15/37
The presence of foodbloggers online
• Main characteristics of
influential actors
o Foodbloggers
o Women
o Interest/experience in the
communication industry
o Care for the visual aspect of
their dishes
o From hobby to profession
o Passion for cooking, link
with values such as family
and tradition
Reputation Manager, December 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

16. Results 16/37
Online videos - Top 20 on YouTube
530 videos online, made available by 236 YouTube channels generated
10.5 M. visits and more than 11K comments
Titolo Visualizzazioni Commenti Preferiti Durata -min Utente
Ricetta:Decorare con semplicita' una torta 756728 446 454 00:04:30 Greedyweb
Impasto per la pizza, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 576910 238 791 00:02:46 GialloZafferanoTV
Tiramisù, la ricetta di Giallozafferano. 479750 157 730 00:02:55 GialloZafferanoTV
Le zeppole fritte graffe napoletane dalle ricette di Nonna Anna semplici,
economiche, gustose. 449499 117 548 00:06:37 kayenna
Mozzarella in Carrozza, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 416397 211 754 00:02:03 GialloZafferanoTV
Salame di Cioccolato, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 400494 230 796 00:02:55 GialloZafferanoTV
Crepes, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 395017 203 720 00:03:14 GialloZafferanoTV
Lasagne alla Bolognese, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 285366 223 431 00:03:56 GialloZafferanoTV
Propone una ricetta con il gatto, Bigazzi licenziato dalla Rai 276383 1745 108 00:01:04 ristotv
La Video Ricetta Passo-Passo della Focaccia Genovese 251595 168 544 00:04:51 vittorioviarengo
Pollo alla cacciatora, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 245895 56 358 00:02:16 GialloZafferanoTV
Penne all'Arrabbiata, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 201231 66 316 00:02:04 GialloZafferanoTV
La ricetta della crema Chantilly HD 187547 77 122 00:02:53 blogdolci
Ragù alla Bolognese, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 169675 176 346 00:04:08 GialloZafferanoTV
Ricette:Involtini impanati alla siciliana 147225 167 217 00:05:55 lacucinaitaliana
Pollo al Curry, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 124677 60 226 00:02:46 GialloZafferanoTV
Video ricetta: Un menù di antipasti al sapore di mare 124614 63 146 00:10:08 sitcomitalia
Gnocchi di Patate, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 120456 41 218 00:02:28 GialloZafferanoTV
Besciamella, la ricetta di Giallozafferano 117075 45 206 00:02:27 GialloZafferanoTV
Video ricetta: muffin per colazione? 105372 42 156 00:11:45 sitcomitalia
Reputation Manager, December 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

17. Results 17/37
Online videos – Top channels (videos generated and comments received)
Reputation Manager, December 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

18. Results 18/37
The most commented channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/thecrazycacke)
• Name: thecrazycake
• Video published: 90
• Channel views: 192.164
• Video views: 1.849.402
• Comments to channel: 1381
• Comments to videos: 8640
• Strategy based on the active
Sono un Ingegnere, ma la mia
involvement of visitors, also
passione è sempre stata la cucina e
adoro fare torte,potete dare uno
with constant links to the
sguardo alle mie creazioni sul facebook profile
profilo di Facebook!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reputation Manager, December 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

19. Results 19/37
Facebook – Top 20 fan pages
53 Fan Pages identified, followed by more than 125K users, who generated
about 7K posts and 8.5K comments
INTERAZIONE- INTERAZIONE-
TOTALE POST COMMENTI INCREMENTO FAN
NOME FANPAGE NUMERO FAN COMMENTI AI POST COMMENTI AI POST
LIKE TOTALI TOTALI MESE%
AMMINISTRATORE FAN
Viva la Focaccia 60.733 6.319 405 899 431 468 1%
Ricette - Le Gioie del palato 10.619 5.378 244 574 574 0 8%
Sorelle in Pentola 10.480 3.596 330 358 319 39 3%
Cake show 5.929 4.487 259 1.208 1.015 193 2%
Dolce Mania per la Pasticceria 3.512 255 48 90 71 19 1%
La cuochina sopraffina 3.489 2.461 516 1.075 948 127 5%
Francesca Sugar Art - Le torte di Francesca 2.418 1.607 383 676 252 424 9%
Delizie da Gustare 2.346 340 168 150 113 37 4%
FANTASTICARE IN CUCINA 2.313 1.212 74 273 273 0 2%
Juls' Kitchen 1.804 1.974 485 552 487 65 4%
L' Arte nelle Mani (di Giuli) 1.770 289 76 66 58 8 2%
La cucina di Virginie 1.444 319 276 120 85 35 5%
Fiordifrolla 1.408 1.036 150 243 243 0 2%
La CuCiNa Di MaMMiNa GiOvI 1.216 129 55 47 28 19 3%
Mamma Papera's blog 1.015 1.390 480 632 584 48 4%
il Blog di Flora 992 247 148 120 63 57 1%
Cucinando in casa 966 281 123 108 104 4 3%
Un Pizzico Di Cannella 943 133 54 37 33 4 0%
Chef Laura at Home 890 230 74 63 47 16 2%
Reputation Manager, December 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

20. Results 20/37
Twitter – Top 20 accounts
Screen name N° Follower N° Following N° Tweet
PinchMySalt 99646 1210 15829
RecipeGirl 14241 1155 32300
CannelleVanille 14196 336 10786
DineandDish 12033 7433 22300
browneyedbaker 10559 4259 11537 • 92 accounts identified
TwoPeasandPod 9695 2019 33620
atablefortwo 8270 414 6750
foodblogallianc 8043 1508 113
runwithtweezers 6181 1196 8569 • Followed by almost 340K
chrispople 6138 793 31692
chowandchatter 5992 4325 71472 followers
kalynskitchen 5818 786 14294
userealbutter 5769 469 16316
cookincanuck
FoodforMyFamily
5314
5132
2590
2253
10836
5958
• Generated 860K tweets
toccodizenzero 5009 1169 32686
GoodBite 4806 2179 1842
TheLittleKitchn 4715 3342 18334
eatlivtravwrite 4702 1846 34761
JuliaParsons 4613 1174 8455
Reputation Manager, December 2011
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

21. Results 21/37
A focus on online influencers (N=10, r.r. 50%)
4
Food is…
3
2
1
0
The only The main One of the The industry in An hobby NA
industry in industry in industries in which I would
which I operate which I operate which I operate like to operate
• Age range from 24 to 47, with 5 respondents aged 31-39
• Two influential actors living abroad
• Only one man
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

22. Results 22/37
Online influencers and social media
6
4
2
0
Less than 2 years From 2 to 5 years From 6 to 10 More than 10 NA
years years
How long have you been active in the food industry?
How long have you been using the web to maintain or develop professional relationships?
3 Hours per day on
2.5 social media
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Facebook (N=8) Twitter (N=7) LinkedIn (N=7) Other Social Blogs (N=8)
Networks (N=2)
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

23. Results 23/37
Online influencers and their online activities
Which contents do you publish Sense of belonging to
online? communities
7 • 8 respondents declared to
6 feel part of at least one
professional community
5
online (5 of at least two)
4 • Only one declared to be part
3 of one (and only one) offline
professional community
2
• Online communities
1 facilitate access to
0 information, overcoming the
Often about Only about NA problem of physical distance
food, but food
sometimes • Online influencers say a lot
about other about themselves online
issues
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

24. 10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Meeting interesting people
Results
Accessing useful
Information
Establish new relations
Tell the others about my
daily life
Communicate my feelings
Be considered influential
Spend my time without
getting bored
Be up-to-date
The Social Capital of Online Influencers
Maintain relationships with
acquaintances
Have fun
Objective
Meeting influential people
Achievement
Communicate my ideas
Maintain relationships with
my closest friends
Be considered an
The objectives and the results achieved by using social media
interesting person
Meeting knowleadgable
people
Find collaborators
Be considered
knowledgeable
Find a job
Find customers
Elaboration of the Authors
24/37

25. Results 25/37
Building reputation in the food industry
• The influencers identified • Clear consensus on the
communication and identification of the most
technical skills as the most important influencers online
important factors to develop
a positive reputation in the • Lack of consensus and
professional group information of people
perceived influential offline
• Long presence in the
industry and reputation
offline or recommendations
are not perceived as relevant
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

26. A network approach to the study online influence 26/37
Influencer 1 – Facebook network
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

27. A network approach to the study online influence 27/37
Influencer 1 – Twitter network
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

28. A network approach to the study online influence 28/37
Influencer 1 - The characteristics of online networks
Connections Density N. groups N. isolates
Facebook 237 0.05 8 14
Twitter 1117 0.10 31 1
LinkedIn 12
Age (avg) Connections Location Study Industry
(avg)
F 28 542 60% Lombardy, University 9% food
11% abroad (86%)
Tw 1082 21% Lombardy,
4% abroad
L 133 83% Lombardy University 8% food
(100%)
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

29. A network approach to the study online influence 29/37
Influencer 1 - Comparing ego networks online
Twitter Facebook
Degree Info Degree Info
(n.connectios= 1117) (n.connectios= 237)
1 687 food - interviewed 43 her professional profile
2 653 food 35 friend
3 601 food - interviewed 32 relative
4 538 food 28 university
5 537 food 28 university
6 527 food 27 university
7 524 food 27 university
8 506 food 27 university
9 498 food - interviewed 26 university
10 482 food 25 friend
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

30. A network approach to the study online influence 30/37
Influencer 1 – Facebook network/subgroups
Friends (dance)
University
Food
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

31. A network approach to the study online influence 31/37
Influencer 1 – Twitter network/subgroups
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

32. A network approach to the study online influence 32/37
Influencer 1 - Comparing ego networks online
Subgroups in Facebook Subgroups in Twitter
• Number of subgroups: 8 • Number of subgroups: 31
• Clear clustering based on the • More difficult interpretation.
nature of the relationship. The interviewed does not
Mainly friendship ties know all her followers.
developed in different However all the subgroups
environments, only one which were identified are
subgroup is “food” related “food related”
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

33. A network approach to the study online influence 33/37
Influencer 1 – Offline networks
Elaboration of the Authors
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

34. Conclusions 34/37
Implications – based on very preliminary results, more to come!
• For theory development
o Importance of openness, honesty and trust  deeper analysis of
reputation (at least in the food industry!!)
o “Online born influencers”?
o Differences in on and offline interactions
• For industry actors
o Technological specialization (on SNS or by profile)
o Different SNS are sources of different types of resources (from
emotional support to information)
• For methodology
o Complexities associated in analysing online network data
o Importance of a qualitative interpretation of online networks
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

35. Conclusion 35/37
Limitations and open issues
• Theoretical
o We focus on “potential influential actors”, but influence analysis
would require a dynamic analysis
• Data analysis
o Size of networks and data coding
o Technical problems in the mapping of LinkedIn networks
o Multiplexity and homophily cannot be explored at this stage
o A fourth dimension of influence: multiple profiles
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

36. Conclusions 36/37
The next steps
• Completion of data analysis
• Comparison across professional groups
• New measures, e.g. for subgroups
• Integration of SNA and qualitative analysis with simulation
techniques
Tubaro and Casilli, 2010
The Social Capital of Online Influencers

37. THE SOCIAL CAPITAL OF ONLINE INFLUENCERS:
EVIDENCE FROM THE FOOD INDUSTRY
Riccardo De Vita (r.devita@gre.ac.uk)
University of Greenwich Business School, London
Ivana Pais (ivana.pais@unicatt.it)
Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan
Cecilia Manzo (manzo@eco.unibs.it)
Universita’ di Brescia
The Social Capital of Online Influencers