The role of social media influencers in Setting the agenda of traditional media communicators (Field Study)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Al-Azhar University – Faculty of Mass Communication – Department of Radio and Television

2 Al-azhar university

Abstract

In light of the continuous growth of the influencer phenomenon and their increasing involvement in various social, economic, political, and religious domains, and given their significant impact on a wide audience base—leveraging the interactive and widespread nature of social media platforms in all their forms—this study aimed to examine the role of social media influencers in shaping the agenda of communication professionals within traditional media institutions.
The study adopted the survey method, with a field research approach, utilizing a structured questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire was administered to a purposive sample of 100 communication professionals working across different traditional media outlets, including newspapers and television channels.
The key findings of the study confirm that social media influencers have an increasingly significant impact on shaping the agenda of traditional media practitioners, with 90% of the respondents reporting regular or occasional engagement with influencer content. The results highlighted Facebook and TikTok as the most influential platforms and indicated that the nature of this engagement is predominantly superficial rather than analytical.
Despite this, media professionals perceive the influence of social media influences on media agendas as moderate to high, particularly concerning social and entertainment issues. Furthermore, the relationship between influencers and traditional media is seen as more complementary than competitive, with a considerable proportion of participants acknowledging that influencers may surpass traditional media in their impact on audiences at times.
The study also confirmed a significant correlation between audience interaction with influencer content and the prioritization of news within media institutions. Moreover, the level of professional experience and type of media outlet were found to be statistically significant variables influencing the extent of engagement with influencers, whereas no significant differences were identified in relation to gender or age.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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