Personal Branding in the Age of Social Media: The Key to Competitive Advantage in Modern Markets
Keywords:
Personal Branding, Digital Identity, Social Media, Authenticity, Professional Visibility, Qualitative Research, Digital Labor, Strategic Communication, Content CreationAbstract
In today’s hyper-connected digital ecosystem, personal branding has become a strategic necessity rather than a superficial endeavor. This study explores how professionals and entrepreneurs leverage personal branding through social media platforms as a means of career advancement, identity construction, and competitive differentiation. Rooted in a qualitative, interpretivist approach, the research draws on 15 in-depth interviews and content analysis of participants’ social media profiles, employing thematic coding to reveal patterns in motivation, strategy, and perceived impact. The findings illuminate five core dimensions of personal branding: authenticity as a foundation for trust, consistency across platforms, a shift from self-promotion to value creation, strategic narrative framing, and the generation of social capital through digital presence. This study contributes to emerging literature by conceptualizing personal branding as a form of socio-digital labor and identity performance shaped by algorithmic visibility, emotional engagement, and cultural context. It addresses a key gap in existing research, which tends to be Western-centric or prescriptive, by offering empirical insights from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia—a region where platform culture, professional aspirations, and entrepreneurial innovation intersect dynamically. The study concludes that effective personal branding is not merely about increasing visibility but cultivating authenticity, emotional resonance, and sustained digital relevance in an evolving professional landscape.
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