“Sometimes I feel like I created a monster” - The growth of The Paris Hilton Brand and the subsequent explosion of influencer culture

This thesis explores influencer culture through research on celebrity culture, the origins of influencing and the birth of new media with a focus on American media personality Paris Hilton. This writing will discuss how Hilton utilised reality-style media such as paparazzi photographs and reality television to play a persona in her journey to becoming an individual who is often hailed as the ‘original influencer.’ This research combined presents an overview of influencer culture and Hilton’s role in its development into becoming the ‘monster’ that she has dubbed it today, touching on the negative aspects of influencer culture. This idea of Hilton as ‘the original influencer’ and influencer culture as the ‘monster’ she created will be the basis of this thesis. This writing explores the idea of the human as a brand; Paris Hilton’s self branding has allowed her to amass what could only be described as an immense brand empire. Hilton is an example of how visual expression and the art of performance through a persona presented by reality media can contribute to an individual garnering mass influence.