In an era where YouTube, short-form video, and streaming platforms have become part of daily life, digital media creators now wield greater social influence than broadcast networks or legacy media. Yet not everyone who can produce content commands that influence. The new book "Homo Influencer" traces where this difference originates.
Written by Lee Hee-dae, a professor in the AI Media Solutions department at Kwangwoon University's graduate school, the book draws on firsthand interviews with approximately 70 creators and platform professionals active in Korea's new media scene. Through diverse cases including Jmovie, J Key Out, Kick Service, Kim Dan-gun, Lee Yeon, Daesaengi, SMAP, Park Ppippi, and Bingming, it analyzes why some creators burn out quickly while others establish themselves as genres in their own right.
The author defines today's influencers not as mere celebrities but as a "designing human type." The book is organized into five branches: people who design time, people who design identity, people who design relationships, people who design stages, and people who rewrite the rules. It emphasizes that influence is not the product of talent or luck but of repeatable structures and attitudes.
The book notably focuses not on surface-level metrics such as view counts or subscriber numbers, but on why certain channels earn long-term trust. Five questions form its core: Can you endure the accumulation of time? Is your identity clear? Do you create relationships? Do you possess a distinctive format? Are you trying to change existing conventions?
Now that generative AI has lowered the barrier to content creation, the message grows even clearer. It is not technology or speed but the ability to design what to create and how to connect that determines competitiveness.
The author's experience at Samsung Electronics' visual display division and in broadcasting and OTT adds a sense of realism to the book. "Homo Influencer" is relevant not only for creators but also for practitioners in media, marketing, and education.