Wine communication in the platform era: the figure of the wine creator
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54103/2531-5994/31706Keywords:
wine creator, digital platforms, transmedia storytelling, deep mediatization, figurationAbstract
This article analyses the transformation of wine communication within the ecosystem of digital platforms, with particular attention to the figure of the wine creator. Drawing on the framework of deep mediatization and figurational theories, the article discusses how Instagram contributes to the redefinition of transmedia storytelling processes, forms of cultural legitimation, and participatory dynamics within the wine sector. The contribution builds on a broader research project, «Are Content Creators Coming? The Post-Influencer in Wine Communication» (Fondazione Banfi, 2024–2025), which adopted a sequential exploratory mixed-method design. The study examined 781 contents published between January and June 2025 by eleven wine creators selected on Instagram, together with more than 6,000 comments produced by their respective communities. The analysis of the data considered for the purposes of this article highlights how the creator’s authoritativeness is constructed at the intersection of technical expertise, self-branding, and processes of community negotiation, configuring digital wine culture as a participatory and relational figuration in which the circulation of the symbolic value of wine depends not only on creators’ narrative strategies, but also on audiences’ interpretative and discursive practices. From this perspective, the case of wine creators does not merely describe wine communication on Instagram but brings into focus the emergence of new forms of cultural intermediation, legitimation, and symbolic value production within the platform ecosystem.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Silvia Leonzi, Giovanni Ciofalo, Alberto Mattiacci (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Accepted 2026-07-16
Published 2026-08-06
