From institutions to influencers: Negotiating holocaust memory in the algorithmic age

Abstract

Holocaust remembrance is increasingly shaped by convergent media ecologies of digital platforms. Drawing on a mixed-method content analysis of 43 profiles (35 influencers and 8 institutions) across Instagram, Facebook, and X on International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024, this article examines how influencer practices intersect with institutional commemoration within hybrid media systems. The findings show that Instagram functions as a central arena of digital remembrance; that influencer and institutional posts differ systematically in format, contextual depth, and self-positioning; and that commemorative discourse is embedded within platform infrastructures structured by algorithmic visibility, engagement-metrics, and attention economies. Rather than replacing institutional memory, influencer activity operates within a longer history of mediated remembrance while reconfiguring how mnemonic authority is negotiated across institutional, vernacular, and commercial logics. The study demonstrates how collective memory is reshaped under conditions of media convergence, in which platform architectures and influencer cultures shape the circulation and interpretation of traumatic pasts.

Introduction

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2024, comedian Amy Schumer posted an Instagram story to her 12 million followers, writing: ‘Essential viewing. Half our youth don’t know what the Holocaust was’, linking to survivors’ testimonies. That day, actress and television host Mayim Bialik posted a memorial candle and reflected on rising global antisemitism, while disabling comments to avoid hate speech.

These posts exemplify a growing phenomenon: Holocaust memory articulated not only by institutions but also by influencers, whose authority derives from platform visibility rather than formal cultural mandates. As museums, schools, and governments are no longer the sole custodians of collective remembrance (Kook, 2021; Levy and Sznaider, 2002; Meyers et al., 2009), influencers have become prominent actors in shaping how Holocaust memory circulates in digital culture. What happens when commemorative discourse moves into commercialized platform environments structured by metrics of visibility and engagement?

Holocaust remembrance, of course, has never been purely institutional. Personal testimony, survivor memoirs, commemorative journalism, literature, and popular culture have long shaped public understanding of the Holocaust alongside official ceremonies and memorials (Halbwachs, 1992; Landsberg, 2004; Neiger et al., 2011; Rothberg, 2009). Successive media technologies, from print and film to television and digital archives, have continually reshaped how traumatic pasts are mediated and experienced.

What is new, therefore, is not personal remembrance itself but its embedding within influencer-centred platform ecologies governed by algorithmic visibility, metrics of engagement, and commercial infrastructures. Under these conditions, authority, visibility, and legitimacy are increasingly structured around persona-driven and affective mediation rather than solely institutional framing. Influencers do not merely extend the reach of remembrance; they function as emergent memory agents who reconfigure how Holocaust memory is authorized, circulated, and interpreted in digital culture. This study, therefore, asks not whether influencers trivialize Holocaust memory, but how platform logics reshape mnemonic authority.

To examine this shift, the article adopts International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024 as a focused case study, an annual global commemorative moment in which institutional and influencer practices converge visibly across platforms. Drawing on 43 profiles (35 influencers and 8 institutions) across Instagram, Facebook, and X, the study compares institutional and influencer practices to show how Holocaust remembrance is reshaped when symbolic authority intersects with platform logics.

Foundations of collective holocaust memory: From national narratives to cosmopolitan memory

The study of Holocaust commemoration is rooted in the concept of collective memory, a socially constructed interpretation of the past shaped by institutions, norms, and media technologies (Meyers et al., 2014; Neiger et al., 2011). Holocaust remembrance has long informed Jewish, Israeli, and global identities, with museums, schools, trials, journalism, and state rituals acting as key custodians.

Yet, Holocaust memory was never purely institutional. From the early postwar years, survivors, educators, and communities struggled to preserve testimony and relevance as witnesses aged and passed away. Early remembrance often remained within survivor and Jewish communal contexts before becoming publicly institutionalized through trials, museums, journalism, and mass media in the 1960s–1980s (Landsberg, 2004; Young, 1993; Zelizer, 1992). Personal testimony, literature, poetry, film, and popular culture therefore long coexisted with official narratives. Parallel to this process, Holocaust memory expanded from national frameworks toward what Levy and Sznaider (2002) termed cosmopolitan memory. Remembrance became transnational, symbolized by global commemorative rituals such as the UN’s 2005 designation of January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. While often described as cosmopolitan, Holocaust remembrance has remained shaped largely by Western media infrastructures and cultural frameworks, a limitation particularly relevant to platform-based studies (Rothberg, 2009). As Nora’s (1989) notion of lieux de mémoire suggests, remembrance crystallizes in rituals, symbols, and spaces, today increasingly digital as well as physical.

Media have always been central to this evolution. Survivor memoirs, documentary film, commemorative journalism, museum exhibitions, and televised events, from the Eichmann trial broadcasts to the series Holocaust (1978) and testimony archives, demonstrate how successive media technologies reshaped the reach, tone, and authority of remembrance (Landsberg, 2004; Young, 1993; Zelizer, 1992). Media-memory scholarship shows that memory is not merely transmitted by media but constructed within mediated mnemonic ecologies where institutional and vernacular actors interact (Hoskins, 2011; Neiger et al., 2011; Reading, 2011). Audience research further demonstrates that mediated trauma is interpreted in diverse ways shaped by cultural background, trust in media actors, and emotional identification (Liebes and Katz, 1990; Livingstone, 1998; Pinchevski, 2019).

Concepts such as postmemory and multidirectional memory illustrate how Holocaust remembrance travels across generations and cultural contexts (Hirsch, 1997; Rothberg, 2009). Personal and affective remembrance therefore did not begin with social media.

Emotional mediation has long been central to Holocaust remembrance. Scholarship on prosthetic memory, mediated witnessing, and empathic vision shows that traumatic pasts are transmitted not only through factual knowledge but through affective identification and moral imagination (Landsberg, 2004; Zelizer, 2010; Pinchevski, 2019). Social media influencers operate within this tradition of affective mediation, yet platform logics intensify emotional expression by privileging concise, high-arousal content optimized for visibility and engagement.

Understanding influencer-driven Holocaust remembrance, therefore, requires situating emotional discourse within both the longer history of mediated trauma and the contemporary infrastructures of algorithmic attention. What is new is not personal memory itself but its embedding within influencer-centred platform ecologies governed by algorithmic visibility, engagement metrics, and commercial infrastructures. Under these conditions, mnemonic authority is reorganized around persona-driven authenticity and affective visibility rather than solely around institutional expertise.

Digital transformation of holocaust commemoration: Platform logics

Digitization accelerated these shifts by preserving testimony archives and expanding access to dispersed audiences (Ebbrecht-Hartmann, 2021). At the same time, social media enabled participatory commemoration, turning private mourning into shared digital ritual (Merrill and Lindgren, 2021). Museums adopted livestreams, virtual tours, and social media campaigns, while vernacular users produced reinterpretations ranging from memorial selfies to projects like Eva Stories, an Instagram-based project (2019) that presents the story of a teenage girl during the Holocaust through social media stories. The project attracted widespread public attention, demonstrating how commemoration adapts to platform affordances (Henig and Ebbrecht-Hartmann, 2022; Manca, 2021).

Platform logics further shape which memories circulate. Visibility depends on metrics of popularity, frequency, and emotional resonance, privileging concise visual formats such as Stories or reels and embedding commemorative discourse within attention economies (Van Dijck, 2013; Zuboff, 2019). These dynamics democratize participation while also reshaping how authority, context, and authenticity are negotiated in digital remembrance.

Influencer-driven commemoration should therefore be understood as a new stage in the longer history of mediated Holocaust remembrance, reflecting the convergence of institutional, vernacular, and commercial logics that characterize contemporary hybrid media systems (Chadwick, 2013; Jenkins, 2006).

Social media influencers as emerging agents of memory

Within this platformized environment, new actors gained prominence: Social media influencers. Traditionally, Holocaust memory was preserved by states, schools, museums, and cultural elites, conceptualized as memory agents (Kook, 2021). Today, influencers with large followings and perceived authenticity increasingly function in similar roles.

Unlike legacy celebrities, influencers derive authority from parasocial relationships built through ongoing, intimate communication (Freberg et al., 2011; Hudders et al., 2021). While widely studied in commercial, educational, and public-health contexts, their role in Holocaust commemoration remains underexplored. Their visibility raises questions about authenticity, authority, and trivialization: they may extend Holocaust memory to audiences less reached by institutions yet operate within platform logics where commemoration competes with entertainment and branding. This article examines influencer activity around International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024 to situate these actors within the longer trajectory of mediated Holocaust memory. The aim is not to ask whether Holocaust remembrance becomes personal in digital spaces, but how mnemonic authority is recalibrated when institutional narratives, vernacular participation, and algorithmic platform ecologies intersect.

Research design

This study employed a qualitative, reflexive-thematic analysis, supplemented by descriptive quantitative measures, to examine how social media influencers participated in Holocaust commemoration on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27, 2024), a globally synchronized moment that enabled comparison across actors and platforms. The analysis was guided by two empirical questions: (1) in what ways do influencers engage in Holocaust remembrance on digital platforms, and (2) what features and boundaries characterize their role as memory agents in the digital age?

Data sampling

The analysis focused on three major platforms: Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). These were selected for their global reach and central role in shaping commemorative discourse. The final data corpus consisted of 43 profiles: 35 from social media influencers and 8 from formal institutions or organizations, with the majority maintaining accounts.

Sampling unfolded in two stages. First, relevant profiles were identified based on audience size, engagement with social or cultural issues, and institutional significance. Influencers were operationally defined as public accounts with more than 50,000 followers, sustained activity during 2023–2024, and prior engagement with social or political content. Second, an expert panel of scholars in social media and collective memory reviewed the preliminary list, suggesting additions and exclusions that improved the transparency and diversity of the sample and strengthened its analytic validity. Ten experts responded (42%), confirming most of the initial sample, suggesting three additions, and recommending the removal of ten.

This process enhanced external validity and ensured a representative dataset. Data were collected manually at multiple time points to account for global time zones and posting cycles (all times in UTC): January 26, 2024, at 19:00; January 27, 2024, at 10:00 and 16:00; and January 28, 2024, at 13:00. All accounts were publicly accessible at the time of collection, in line with accepted ethical standards for online research (Yadlin-Segal et al., 2020). Screenshots were taken of both permanent posts (feeds) and temporary content (stories).

Two contextual factors may have influenced posting behaviour. First, 2024 International Holocaust Remembrance Day occurred 3 months after the October 7 attacks and during the ongoing Iron Swords war, which could have heightened the salience of Holocaust references. Second, the date fell on a Saturday, potentially affecting posting frequency. Previous research suggests that influencers often time their posts to maximize exposure according to platform-specific ‘optimal posting times’ (Singh et al., 2023). The sample is primarily composed of influencers operating in English and Hebrew and active on platforms widely used in North America and Europe. While these platforms shape global commemorative discourse, they are less dominant in regions such as China or parts of Africa and Latin America, where alternative platforms prevail. The findings should therefore be understood as reflecting Western-centred digital memory ecologies rather than a fully global picture.

Quantitative and qualitative approach

The study combined quantitative description with qualitative reflexive-thematic interpretation, enabling both mapping and meaning-making. The quantitative approach included a descriptive content analysis (Neuendorf, 2017) documenting variables relating to:

A. Content production: whether influencers posted relevant material, the platforms used, permanency of posts (feed vs story), degree of cross-platform adaptation, and influencer gender. Permanent content was distinguished from temporary posts, given its stronger commitment and longer-term visibility.

B. Audience engagement: likes, comments, and shares (measured 1 week after posting), and whether commenting was enabled or disabled, reflecting strategies of either encouraging participation or limiting hostile responses. Engagement metrics were treated as indicators of visibility rather than of agreement or understanding, in line with research showing that platform interactions signal attention but not necessarily interpretation.

These measures align with established metrics in social media research for assessing reach and visibility (Manca, 2021). The qualitative approach included a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006, 2012, 2019), which was applied to all collected materials. Coding was conducted by two researchers who independently reviewed a subset of posts to refine thematic categories, followed by joint discussion to resolve discrepancies. While reflexive thematic analysis does not aim at statistical intercoder reliability, this process enhanced analytic transparency and reflexivity. Following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase process, which includes: familiarization, coding, theme generation, review, definition, and reporting, the analysis sought to identify both explicit and implicit commemorative patterns. The approach was chosen for its flexibility in handling multi-modal data (text, image, video) (Greenwald et al., 2024) and its capacity to situate Holocaust remembrance within the cultural and social contexts of digital platforms (Yadlin, 2022).

Thematic coding was supported by a quantitative table documenting each post’s features (temporality, platform, engagement, gender, etc.), which formed the basis for identifying patterns and building inductive categories. No rigid codebook was applied; rather, the analysis drew on grounded theory principles (Corbin and Strauss, 1990) to let themes emerge iteratively. This mixed approach aligns with recent scholarship on online texts and commemorative practices, including studies of Holocaust memory in diaspora communities (Yadlin, 2022), universities’ use of social media (Benedict et al., 2016), STEM influencers (Steinke et al., 2024), and TikTok trends (Davis et al., 2023).

Findings

During International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024, out of the 43 profiles sampled in this study, only 18 (41%) published content relevant to the event. Among the 35 influencer profiles included in the sample, only 10 (28.5%) posted content. The influencer sample featured a diverse range of figures, including a former U.S. president, politicians, comedians, singers, and social activists. By contrast, all memorial institutions and organizations analysed, 8 out of 8, published relevant content (100%). A detailed list of the profiles examined in this study is provided in Appendix A (influencers) and Appendix B (institutions).

The findings presented in this chapter are organized around key themes that emerged from the analysis. Each theme highlights a different aspect of the role and practices of social media influencers in Holocaust memory discourse. Both quantitative and qualitative insights are integrated within these themes.

First theme: Instagram as a leading arena in digital holocaust memory

Among the three platforms examined, Instagram emerged as the dominant arena for influencer activity on Holocaust Remembrance Day. All influencers in the sample who posted did so on Instagram, whereas Facebook (three posts) and X (two posts) saw minimal activity; five influencers lacked Facebook accounts and nine were absent from X. Elon Musk, active only on X, posted nothing Holocaust-related. Institutional accounts, by contrast, shared content across all three platforms. This disparity reflects broader shifts in the digital media ecology: although Facebook still leads in total users, Instagram attracts younger audiences through visual and personal storytelling, while X functions primarily as a news- and opinion-oriented space (Alhabash et al., 2024).

Engagement metrics underscore this divergence. Mayim Bialik’s post received approximately 63,000 likes on Instagram compared with 5000 on Facebook and 3000 on X. Former U.S president Barack Obama’s post drew about 46,000 likes on Instagram versus 15,000 on Facebook. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum garnered roughly 15,000 likes on Instagram compared with 2000 on Facebook, and Israel’s official Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem received about 5000 on Instagram versus 875 on Facebook and 255 on X. High engagement metrics therefore indicate visibility rather than shared interpretation, as platform interactions signal attention but not necessarily agreement or understanding (Liebes and Katz, 1990; Livingstone, 1998; Pinchevski, 2019). Influencer posts may thus circulate widely while being interpreted in diverse or even contradictory ways. Engagement metrics should therefore be treated as indicators of circulation within platform attention economies rather than evidence of historical learning or mnemonic consensus. Instagram’s visual and emotional format encourages personal sharing and aesthetic adaptation, making Holocaust memory broadly accessible but also highly stylized. Holocaust-related posts relied on soft, digestible imagery: Bialik posted a candle on a black background; Obama shared photographs with Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and at memorial sites; symbolic imagery dominated while graphic testimony appeared rarely. When names or stories were included, they were adapted to influencer aesthetics. Yad Vashem, for example, posted brief victim profiles over muted backgrounds without linking directly to full testimonies. Memory thus appeared ‘tailored to the platform’, aligned with influencer tone and branding practices. This pattern becomes clearer when comparing the formats used across accounts.

A comparison of post formats across the sample further supports this pattern. All ten influencers who posted on Holocaust Remembrance Day used visually oriented formats, typically sharing a single image, a screenshot, or a symbolic motif, accompanied by varying amounts of text. By contrast, institutional accounts consistently incorporated archival materials, testimony, or educational framing in their commemorative posts. This contrast suggests that Instagram’s affordances favour concise, emotionally legible imagery over historically dense narration (Henig and Ebbrecht-Hartmann, 2022; Manca, 2021).

Instagram’s affordances: Stories, short videos, emojis, and stickers, create a visual and affective frame for collective memory (boyd, 2010; Hase et al., 2023). Holocaust content is shaped by aesthetic conventions and algorithmic pressures: the pursuit of visibility encourages adaptation to fast, image-driven formats. Rather than functioning as a neutral distribution channel, Instagram reshapes how Holocaust memory is framed, circulated, and sustained, often privileging emotional immediacy and visual resonance over extended historical contextualization.

Several influencers shared nearly identical content across platforms. Israeli–Arab social media influencer and activist, Yoseph Haddad posted the same Auschwitz-Birkenau photo with an Israeli flag and reflection on Instagram, Facebook, and X. Bialik reused her candle image across platforms, and Obama shared similar photographs with Elie Wiesel on Facebook and Instagram. This limited adaptation suggests either a cautious strategy or constrained resources, highlighting the tension between platform affordances and actual user practice.

A key distinction emerged between permanent posts and Stories. Institutions generally favoured permanent posts, whereas about 40% of influencers relied exclusively on Stories, ephemeral posts without public comments that disappear after 24 h. Temporary formats allow participation in commemorative moments without committing to lasting contextualized memory. Such practices combine commemorative messages with contemporary political or commercial framing and limit long-term accessibility and documentation.

Permanent posts, by contrast, often drew substantial engagement. Obama’s Instagram post gained roughly 45,000 likes and 1700 comments; Bialik received more than 63,000 likes on a similar post; and Yoseph Haddad gained over 27,000 likes. Israeli actress and Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism Noa Tishby posted a video featuring a Holocaust and October 7 survivor, earning nearly 19,000 likes, 500,000 views, and more than 1100 comments. Permanent posts offered visibility and some space for dialogue, although engagement still reflected attention rather than consensus.

Content, whether permanent or temporary, reflected both platform constraints and influencer styles. Haddad’s photo of himself wrapped in an Israeli flag on the Auschwitz tracks used saturated symbolism to provoke immediate emotional response and linked Holocaust remembrance to October 7 events. By contrast, Bialik’s minimalist candle image matched Instagram’s aesthetic norms while disabling comments to control framing. In both cases, image and text formed a communicative unit in which symbolism conveyed affect and captions anchored meaning.

Institutional posts followed similar visual conventions but more frequently provided contextual framing. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum shared Stories combining testimony clips and archival photos with concise explanatory text. The World Jewish Congress circulated user-generated photos as part of the global #WeRemember campaign, creating a visual collective representation. Institutions thus also operated within digital affordances, adapting Holocaust memory to platform logics while maintaining greater emphasis on contextualization.

Taken together, these findings suggest that Instagram functions not merely as a distribution channel but as a structuring environment shaping the visibility, tone, and temporality of Holocaust commemoration. Influencers do not simply widen the audience of remembrance; they reshape its communicative form by compressing historical narratives into brief, emotionally resonant expressions aligned with platform logics. Institutions, in turn, adapt documentation-oriented discourse to remain visible within the same attention economy, revealing how digital infrastructures increasingly shape both the reach and the form of Holocaust memory online.

Second theme: Formal-institutional discourse versus personal-emotional discourse

Holocaust remembrance on social media reflects an ongoing recalibration of mnemonic authority between institutional and vernacular actors. While institutions tend to anchor memory in fact-based documentation and historical continuity, influencers foreground personal affect and position themselves within the narrative. The distinction is not absolute, yet differences in framing and tone reveal how mnemonic authority is constructed and negotiated in digital commemorative culture. Across the sample, institutional posts typically included archival photographs, survivor testimony, or links to extended educational materials, whereas influencer posts relied primarily on symbolic imagery or brief captions.

This contrast reflects different claims to mnemonic authority: institutions derive legitimacy from historical documentation and archival continuity, whereas influencers establish authority through personal identification and affective positioning. These differences are shaped not only by actor identity but also by platform affordances. Instagram’s visually concise and affect-driven format encourages influencers to integrate remembrance into personal branding practices, while institutions adapt documentation-oriented discourse to platform conventions in order to maintain visibility within the attention economy (Manca, 2021; Van Dijck, 2013). The resulting dynamic reflects processes of media convergence, in which institutional memory practices are reshaped by influencer-driven platform logics rather than replaced by them.

Institutional accounts consistently employed formal language grounded in verified historical facts. Museums such as the Auschwitz Museum and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum emphasized archival photographs, testimony clips, and concise educational captions, maintaining a separation between institutional voice and historical subject. Emotion was present, yet mediated through conventions of documentation and historical framing, reflected in careful curation of testimony excerpts, restrained visual design, and avoidance of first-person positioning. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust similarly combined symbolic imagery with educational messages, presenting remembrance as shared public history rather than personal narrative.

Influencer posts, by contrast, more often embedded remembrance within contemporary identity and personal voice. Israeli–Arab influencer Yoseph Haddad posted himself wrapped in an Israeli flag on the Auschwitz–Birkenau tracks, linking Holocaust memory to the October 7 attacks. Noa Tishby reshared testimony from a survivor of both the Holocaust and October 7, framing remembrance through present-day identification. Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor shared a carousel of Holocaust-related books including Elie Wiesel’s Night, encouraging followers to read and remember while connecting memory to current concerns. Amy Schumer and Mayim Bialik linked to testimony projects or posted symbolic imagery such as memorial candles, sometimes disabling comments to manage hostile responses. These cases illustrate how influencers reshape memory through personal tone, affective framing, and selective contextualization.

Audience reception further complicates this distinction. High-visibility influencer posts may circulate widely yet be interpreted through diverse cultural and political frameworks, meaning that personal-emotional framing does not guarantee shared historical understanding (Liebes and Katz, 1990; Livingstone, 1998; Pinchevski, 2019). Such dynamics were observed across Hebrew- and English-language accounts and across political, cultural, and entertainment influencers in the sample. While the proximity to the October 7 attacks likely intensified emotional framing, similar personalization appeared in posts unrelated to contemporary events, suggesting a broader platform-mediated pattern.

At the same time, boundaries between institutional and vernacular discourse proved fluid. Yad Vashem’s ‘Wall of Memory’ campaign invited followers to share stories of Holocaust victims, and the World Jewish Congress reposted hundreds of user-generated #WeRemember posts. Conversely, political figures such as Barack Obama combined personal photographs with formal commemorative text, blurring the line between personal and institutional authority. These examples demonstrate what media memory research has long observed: collective remembrance is shaped through interactions among institutional, journalistic, and vernacular actors rather than through any single authority (Neiger et al., 2011).

The prominence of emotionally intensified content observed in both influencer and institutional posts can also be understood within broader platform dynamics. Studies show that emotionally arousing content travels further on social media (Stieglitz and Dang-Xuan, 2013), and engagement-maximizing algorithms tend to amplify such material within attention economies (Milli et al., 2025). Institutions adapting to these conditions may incorporate influencer-like rhetoric or visual styles in order to remain visible, suggesting that Holocaust remembrance becomes increasingly shaped by platform logics as well as by historical conventions.

These findings indicate that influencer-driven commemoration does not simply widen the audience of Holocaust remembrance but reshapes its communicative form. Institutional actors emphasize continuity, documentation, and educational framing, whereas influencers privilege personal identification, symbolic imagery, and affective immediacy. Platform affordances structure both approaches, producing hybrid mnemonic practices in which authority is negotiated through visibility, authenticity, and historical framing rather than solely through institutional status.

Third theme: Platform-embedded commemoration and the economies of visibility

The analysis further indicates that Holocaust commemoration on social media does not circulate outside the commercial infrastructures of contemporary platforms. Rather, commemorative content becomes embedded within metrics of visibility, branding practices, and attention economies that shape how posts gain prominence and legitimacy. Participation in commercial platforms does not necessarily imply intentional commodification by users, but it situates commemorative practices within advertising-based media systems structured by data extraction, targeted marketing, and algorithmic ranking (Van Dijck, 2013; Zuboff, 2019).

Social media platforms provide free access to users while relying on advertising-driven business models in which user data, browsing patterns, interactions, and content become resources for predicting behaviour and targeting audiences. Within such environments, attention itself functions as currency, and visibility becomes a key form of symbolic capital (Fuchs, 2015; Van Dijck, 2013). Influencers, as central actors in these systems, routinely combine commercial, personal, and value-based content within the same communicative space. Holocaust-related posts therefore circulate alongside branded content, political messaging, and personal storytelling, reflecting the hybrid logics of platform communication.

Influencer accounts also demonstrated substantially larger audience reach: follower counts ranged from approximately 800,000 (Noa Tishby) to more than 12 million (Amy Schumer) and over 35 million on Instagram and 130 million on X (Barack Obama), whereas institutional accounts such as the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (≈11,000 followers), Yad Vashem (≈118,000), and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (≈243,000) reached far smaller audiences. These disparities illustrate how influencer-based commemoration operates within economies of visibility where reach, engagement, and persona-driven communication shape how memory circulates.

Several illustrative cases highlight how commemorative discourse may intersect with personal branding strategies. In a preliminary review conducted for Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023, Kim Kardashian, a globally influential social media figure and reality television personality, posted a Holocaust-related quote between Stories promoting swimwear and cosmetics, embedding moral discourse within a sequence of commercial messaging. On Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024, Kanye West posted an Instagram Story featuring a child in Yeezy-branded clothing alongside a caption invoking themes of hate and love, while also sharing content defending his public image following earlier antisemitic controversies. West, a rapper and fashion entrepreneur has also widely publicized antisemitic statements included the circulation of conspiracy theories and inflammatory remarks about Jewish people (Anguiano, 2022). These cases, while not representative of all influencers, illustrate how Holocaust-related discourse may become integrated into broader branding narratives and influencers’ public image, where memory functions as symbolic capital within a personal media persona (Whitmer, 2019). The examples are therefore used as illustrative rather than typical patterns.

Political actors demonstrate similar dynamics. Democratic U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib reposted Holocaust-related material connected to Gaza-war discourse, linking historical memory to contemporary political framing. Such posts blend commemorative language with ongoing political agendas, showing how Holocaust memory can be mobilized within partisan or activist communication. These practices reflect broader struggles over mnemonic authority in digital environments, where institutional narratives, personal identification, and political messaging intersect within platform logics (Niemeyer and Keightley, 2020).

Importantly, platform-embedded commemoration does not necessarily trivialize remembrance. Instead, it recalibrates how mnemonic authority is produced and circulated. Institutional actors typically anchor memory in archival documentation, testimony, and historical continuity, whereas influencer-driven posts more often embed remembrance within personal narratives, identity performance, and emotionally resonant imagery. This dynamic helps explain patterns observed in Themes 1 and 2: simplified visual motifs, brief captions, and personal framing align with the communicative incentives of platforms that reward concise, affectively legible content.

Audience reach further complicates this dynamic. High follower counts and engagement metrics signal visibility rather than shared interpretation, meaning that Holocaust-related posts may circulate widely while being understood through diverse cultural and political frameworks. In this sense, economies of visibility reshape not only who participates in remembrance but how memory is framed, interpreted, and legitimized in digital public culture.

Scholars have noted that nostalgia and memory often become marketable cultural resources in digital environments, where algorithmic systems privilege content that maximizes engagement (Niemeyer and Keightley, 2020). Within such systems, influencers may be perceived as more credible when they regularly address historical or social issues (‘likely sources’), whereas posts by accounts associated primarily with commercial domains may generate scepticism (‘unlikely sources’) (Naderer, 2023). Cases such as those involving Kanye West, illustrate how inconsistency or overt branding may undermine credibility and provoke accusations of exploitation.

Taken together, these findings suggest that Holocaust commemoration on social media is shaped by platform-embedded dynamics in which personal expression, institutional authority, political discourse, and commercial logics coexist. The phenomenon reveals an ongoing tension: expanding access to remembrance through popular digital actors may increase visibility and reach, yet it also situates memory within attention economies that prioritize engagement, personalization, and branding. Holocaust remembrance thus becomes not only a historical practice but also a communicative activity structured by platform infrastructures that shape how memory gains attention, circulates globally, and acquires contemporary meaning.

Discussion and conclusions: Understanding ephemeral vernacular memory

Our findings should be understood within this longer history of mediated Holocaust remembrance. Personal memory has always coexisted with institutional commemoration, from survivor testimony and literary works to commemorative journalism and popular culture. Influencers therefore do not introduce personal remembrance into Holocaust discourse for the first time; rather, they operate within a historical trajectory in which successive media technologies, from print and film to television and digital archives, have reshaped how societies remember traumatic pasts (Halbwachs, 1992; Landsberg, 2004; Neiger et al., 2011; Rothberg, 2009). By focussing on influencer-driven Holocaust commemoration across platforms, this study extends research on mediated memory beyond institutional archives and journalistic mediation, demonstrating how mnemonic authority is negotiated within influencer-centred platform ecologies.

What distinguishes the current platform environment is not the existence of personal commemoration but the structural conditions under which memory circulates. Algorithmic visibility, engagement metrics, and persona-based authenticity reorganize the hierarchy of mnemonic agents, privileging emotionally resonant, platform-optimized narratives. In this sense, influencers do not simply extend Holocaust memory to wider audiences; they recalibrate how commemorative authority is constructed and negotiated in digital culture (Hoskins, 2011; Neiger et al., 2023; Reading, 2011). This shift highlights a broader tension between democratization and commodification in digital remembrance, suggesting that the key question is not whether Holocaust memory becomes personal in social media spaces, but how platform logics reshape its moral authority, interpretation, and public meaning.

The findings go beyond description to enable theoretical reflection. Central is how institutional and vernacular modes of Holocaust remembrance interact under cultural and algorithmic conditions. Rather than treating them as separate, the discussion highlights their intersections, frictions, and mutual reshaping. As demonstrated in the comparative analysis of institutional posts and influencer content, differences in format, tone, and self-positioning shaped how remembrance was framed and circulated. Situating the results within debates on mediated and algorithmic memory, this section argues that influencers should be understood not as peripheral actors but as emergent memory agents whose hybrid practices, balancing responsibility, authenticity and visibility, reconfigure the dynamics of collective memory online.

This negotiation occurs not only between institutions and individuals but also within influencer communities, as observed in cases where Holocaust discourse intersected with personal branding, political advocacy, or contemporary conflicts. Influencers shift between authority, consensus, and emotional or provocative engagement, bridging popular culture and traumatic memory, personal expression and public responsibility. Holocaust memory online thus emerges through negotiation rather than fixed boundaries.

The digital arena is not neutral but a cultural–algorithmic framework shaping discourse and memory. Likes, comments, and shares reward short, visual, emotional content, making Instagram central to vernacular mediation. As observed in the prominence of Stories, symbolic imagery, and condensed captions in influencer posts, platform affordances encouraged immediacy and shareability over extended contextual explanation. This broadens visibility but also binds commemoration to popularity and commodification, challenging depth and authenticity (Hoskins, 2018; Van Dijck, 2013; Zuboff, 2019). While engagement metrics do not necessarily indicate depth of understanding or historical comprehension, they signal new forms of visibility and circulation that were largely unavailable to traditional commemorative institutions.

Influencers act as informal memory agents, linking institutional remembrance with personal experiences shaped by culture and identity. As illustrated in the cases analysed, commemorative posts were frequently embedded within personal branding, political positioning, or contemporary advocacy, situating Holocaust memory within broader identity narratives. This expands reach, especially among younger audiences, but also introduces tensions when remembrance intersects with visibility-seeking practices and self-presentation. The interplay between participation and commodification thus underscores the complexity of Holocaust memory in platformized environments.

A central question emerging from this analysis is whether influencer involvement fundamentally transforms Holocaust remembrance or primarily expands its circulation. The findings suggest a more nuanced answer. While the historical content often remains aligned with institutional narratives, its framing, tone, and mode of engagement shift significantly. Memory is not replaced but reframed, as documentation-centred authority increasingly coexists with relational, affect-driven mediation. In this sense, the transformation lies less in historical substance and more in the conditions through which remembrance gains visibility, legitimacy, and resonance.

Influencers’ impact stems not only from individual posts but from their status as recognizable and accessible figures within ongoing digital relationships. As demonstrated in the analysis, commemorative messages were embedded within established personas that followers encounter daily, fostering familiarity and trust. Memory, therefore, is mediated not only through historical documentation or imagery but through identity, emotion, and community. This relational mode of mediation aligns with scholarship on influencer authenticity and parasocial engagement (Freberg et al., 2011; Hudders et al., 2021), suggesting that authority in digital Holocaust commemoration is increasingly grounded in perceived authenticity and networked recognition rather than formal institutional endorsement.

Engaging with Holocaust memory carries risks. As observed in the case of Mayim Bialik, who disabled comments on her commemorative post, influencers may attract attention but also anticipate backlash or hostile responses. Without formal institutional backing, they navigate public scrutiny individually, balancing visibility with reputational and ethical considerations. Their role is therefore complex, shaped by personal identity and moral positioning on one side, and by the pressures of platform exposure and potential controversy on the other.

Influencers operate in ongoing tension between institutional and personal registers, value-driven messaging and commercial self-presentation. As informal memory agents, they mediate historically charged content within platform environments characterized by shifting norms and fleeting attention. The cases examined illustrate how commemorative posts intersected with branding, advocacy, or contemporary political discourse, highlighting the unstable boundary between influence and responsibility. Online commemoration thus generates wider exposure while simultaneously introducing pressures toward brevity, personalization, and market-oriented visibility.

Beyond tensions, the analysis also points to possibilities of collaboration and convergence. In several instances, influencers reshared institutional materials, linked to survivor testimonies, or adopted official commemorative language while framing it in a more personal tone. Such practices suggest that influencers may amplify institutional messages, translate formal narratives into accessible language, and extend their reach to audiences less likely to engage directly with museums or state bodies. The digital sphere, therefore, operates not only as a site of competition but also as a space of mediation and integration between different memory frameworks.

This analysis demonstrates how digital platforms, particularly Instagram, shape commemorative discourse not only through content but through structural and algorithmic conditions. The visual and ephemeral affordances of social media influence how Holocaust memory is framed, how new memory agents emerge, and how legitimacy is negotiated. Influencers operate within these constraints by combining emotional, personal, and branded elements shaped by civic, commercial, and political motives. While the digital sphere introduces new challenges, it also expands the reach of Holocaust remembrance, especially among younger audiences. Future research should further examine platform differences and cultural variation in digital commemoration.

The digital expansion of Holocaust commemoration reflects both technological change and a transformation in the identity of memory agents. Unlike institutions embedded in formal symbolic frameworks, influencers emerge from networked cultures and operate independently of official mandates. As such, they embed remembrance within broader cultural, political, and personal contexts. This shift raises ongoing questions of responsibility, authenticity, and ethics as informal memory agents navigate audience expectations and platform metrics of visibility and engagement within competitive digital environments.

Viewing influencers as memory agents invites comparison with other sensitive socio-domains in which they shape public perception, including vaccination, virtual education, and crisis communication (Bonnevie et al., 2021; Shen et al., 2017; Whitney and Guthrie, 2020). Holocaust remembrance, however, carries distinct moral and historical weight. Influencers engaging with it navigate polarized environments, reputational risks, and questions of authenticity without the symbolic protection afforded to institutions.

Influencer mediation does not inherently trivialize Holocaust memory; rather, it situates commemoration within platform logics of visibility, branding, and rapid circulation that may compress context while expanding reach. These dynamics encapsulate the intersection of institutional authority, vernacular mediation, and algorithmic conditions that define contemporary digital remembrance.

In conclusion, Holocaust commemoration in the digital age emerges from the ongoing negotiation between institutional authority and vernacular mediation within platformized environments. By examining influencers as informal yet consequential memory agents, this study demonstrates how collective memory is reshaped when symbolic legitimacy intersects with algorithmic visibility. Holocaust remembrance thus illuminates broader transformations in the mediation of trauma and moral discourse under networked conditions. Understanding these dynamics is essential for grasping how memory is authorized, circulated, and contested in contemporary digital culture.

This study focuses on a limited sample of profiles during a single commemorative moment, International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024. While this design enabled close comparison between institutional and influencer practices, it cannot capture longer-term dynamics or variation across time. The analysis also concentrates on three major Western platforms (Instagram, Facebook, and X). Holocaust memory circulates differently across broader platform ecologies, including TikTok, YouTube, and region-specific networks, whose affordances, moderation regimes, and algorithmic logics shape how mnemonic authority is negotiated online, perhaps in different ways than the ones discussed here. Comparative cross-platform and cross-cultural research is therefore needed. Finally, the study examines posts rather than audience reception. Engagement metrics indicate visibility rather than shared interpretation, and future work should explore how different publics understand influencer-mediated Holocaust commemoration.