Trending Voices: The Power of Social Media Influencers on Emotions Toward Gender Equality

This article examines how social media influencers shape emotional responses to feminism and gender equality. Building on affect theory and feminist epistemology, we argue that influencers act as affective entrepreneurs who organize publics through the circulation of feeling. Social media platforms fuel these dynamics by enabling emotional contagion and the viral spread of affective content through algorithmic design. Emotions expressed online do not merely reflect opinion but constitute forms of knowledge and recognition: they shape how users perceive social reality, interpret injustice, and position themselves in relation to others. Among followers of feminist influencers, emotions such as solidarity, pride, and hope serve as epistemic resources that make structural inequalities visible and intelligible, fostering empathy and a shared understanding of gender injustice. Through the social sharing of emotion, these users participate in communities that transform individual feelings into collective awareness and belonging. In contrast, followers of anti-feminist influencers may experience and circulate emotions such as irritation, disgust, and mistrust, which work in the opposite direction. These affective reactions not only express disagreement but also actively undermine the recognition of gender inequality by framing feminist claims as exaggerated, divisive, discriminatory against men or irrational. Drawing on a PSM analysis, we find that followers of feminist influencers are significantly more likely to report positive emotions—such as solidarity, pride, and hope—toward these topics. Conversely, followers of anti-feminist influencers show a greater propensity to express negative emotions, including irritation, disgust, boredom, indignation, and mistrust. Notably, these relationships are asymmetrical: following feminist influencers increases positive emotions but does not reduce negative ones, while following anti-feminist influencers amplifies negative emotions without diminishing positive ones. Although we do not claim causality, our findings suggest that influencers act as emotional amplifiers rather than neutral mediators of discourse. In conclusion, the emotional contents promoted by influencers contribute reinforcing affective boundaries between those who perceive gender inequality as a legitimate concern and those who deny it. In this way, the emotional economies surrounding feminist and anti-feminist influencers generate distinct modes of knowing and feeling: one grounded in empathy and collective understanding, the other in defensive disengagement and denial.