Toward a Theory of Digital Platform Frontlines: Understanding the Boundary-Spanning Roles of Influencers in Platform Ecosystems

Abstract

On digital platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and X, customer engagement occurs not only through traditional employees and self-service systems, but also through influencers. Influencers, particularly those with significant reach, play boundary-spanning roles when they facilitate service delivery and shape the user experience, yet they do so under conditions of informality and limited organizational control. We apply an organizational frontlines lens to discuss the implications of these boundary-spanning roles and how they parallel, and diverge from, those of traditional frontline employees. The proposed framework specifies interdependencies between influencers, platform operators, users, and advertisers and theorizes how these relationships are shaped by four platform governance mechanisms: policy stability, platform transparency, interface capability, and incentive alignment. We develop a set of propositions and offer a comprehensive research agenda for the role of influencers in the frontlines of digital platforms. This work extends organizational frontlines literature by conceptualizing influencers’ roles within the boundary tier and proposing a theory of digital platform frontlines, offering new directions for understanding customer engagement in digitally mediated environments.