1.1 Estimated Frequency of Discourses by Influencer
The heatmap illustrates the extent to which influencers address the clusters of discourses as defined in You-Dare research framework across the countries included in the analysis.
Methodology
The content produced by the influencers included in the sample was analysed and classified into a set of predefined discourse clusters. For each influencer, a binary coding scheme was applied for every category:
- "Yes" if the influencer addressed the given discourse category;
- "No" if the category was not addressed.
Each influencer could be associated with multiple discourse clusters simultaneously.
To ensure the comparability of results across countries with different sample sizes, the data were normalised and aggregated at the country level. For each country and for each discourse category, the proportion of positive codings ("yes") was calculated as the ratio between the number of influencers who addressed the specific category and the total number of influencers analysed in that country.
These proportions were then expressed as percentages, providing an estimated measure of the relative prevalence of each discourse category among influencers within each national context. This normalisation procedure enables consistent cross-country comparisons while accounting for differences in the size of national samples.
1.2 Social Media
1.2.1 Estimated Distribution of Influencer Followers by Social Media Platform
The stacked bar chart illustrates the distribution of follower counts across the different social media platforms used by the influencers analysed in each country, relative to the total number of followers of all influencers within the same country.
The estimated distribution is calculated as follows: for each country, the total number of followers of all identified influencers is first computed; subsequently, the number of followers associated with each social media platform is divided by this total, resulting in the relative share attributable to each platform.
This methodology enables a clear visualisation of the relative penetration of each social media platform among influencers in each country and facilitates cross-country comparisons.
1.2 Social Media
1.2.2 Estimated Distribution of Social Media Followers Across Countries
The radar chart presents the estimated distribution of followers across the different social media platforms for each country, calculated with respect to the total number of influencers’ followers at national level. This representation allows for an immediate comparison and facilitates the identification of the most prevalent social media platforms in each country.
The estimated distribution is calculated as follows: for each country, the total number of followers of all identified influencers is first computed; subsequently, the number of followers associated with each social media platform is divided by this total, resulting in the relative share attributable to each platform.
This methodology enables a clear visualisation of the relative penetration of each social media platform among influencers in each country and facilitates cross-country comparisons.
1.3 Timeline of Mapped Influencers
The line chart illustrates the timeline of activity of the influencers mapped in this research.
Data normalization is a crucial step in this visualization, as it ensures comparability across countries with differing and non-uniform numbers of observations.
Specifically, the data were normalized by calculating, for each year, the percentage of active influencers relative to the total recorded in 2025.
