Exploring Language Influencer's Curation of Authentic English Content on Instagram, 2023-2025

This exploratory study investigates how social media influencer teachers curate authenticity in English language teaching through platformized multimodality on Instagram. Drawing on a dataset of 209 Instagram Reels produced by macro (+100K followers) and mega (+1M followers) influencers, the analysis employs a tripartite coding framework to examine how platform affordances facilitate multimodal ensembles to create authentic pedagogical content. Findings reveal that authenticity is enacted through relatability (situating language in everyday contexts), semiotic performativity (embodied multimodal enactments of linguistic scenarios), and intertextuality (embedding cultural references to validate linguistic authority). These strategies not only intersect with identity performances alternating between influencers and authentic language users, but they are also reinforced by juxtaposed dichotomies of language ideologies.