Everyone’s a W̶i̶n̶n̶e̶r̶ Influencer Baby

In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes

~ Andy Worhol

The semester is over. My sleep cycle has gone to the dogs, so like any self-respecting individual, I find myself on Instagram at some ungodly hour. After every 15-20 minutes of mindlessly looking at stories I stop and think; what the actual fuck am I consuming. 

What is an influencer? They’re normal people like you and me, but suddenly we’ve put them on a pedestal. Take a walk in Bandra and somehow 5 out of 10 people look familiar because you’ve seen their get ready with me’s on Instagram. And best believe they’re all walking together, looking for the next café to take pictures in.

Being creative is not the same as being an influencer. Why are you selling me a product I don’t need? Last time I checked, the only ads on Instagram were supposed to be the sponsored ones. It’s like I wake up one day and five self-proclaimed ‘it girls’ on Instagram are posting about the new hyaluronic, salicylic, retinoid salt-of-the-earth sunscreen that you might fall to the floor without. Run don’t walk…to the library maybe?

Something that has also changed with the rise of influencer culture, is the meaning of the word ‘content’. I’d like to think that it used to refer to the actual subject matter of something, regardless of how good or bad it may be. Now every post, reel, story and breath taken by an influencer is called ‘content’. Very respectfully, open the schools.

Do we actually know what half these influencers do? Or where they get the money to go on boojee café runs every single day? All I know is that somehow as a society we’ve subscribed to watching these people live their lives, which look deceptively similar to ours, but let’s be honest- they’re not. When was the last time you were invited to an exclusive apple event? Yeah, even I can’t answer that.

I don’t think celebrities can be compared with influencers. The entire pretext that influencers get famous on is that they’re just like you. They don’t seem unattainable like celebrities do. But if they’re supposed to be so relatable, why do almost all of them have broadcast channels where they talk about their favourite products into the void, and somehow thousands of people are happily listening. Why then, do you have to pay money to view ‘exclusive content’? Social media is meant to democratise access to content, right? Finance and beauty influencers are very conveniently at Cannes. What on earth do they have to do with a film festival?

Networking events, run clubs, coffee and matcha raves, GRWMs…we seem to be losing the plot a little, as a people. I was sitting opposite an influencer once in a Starbucks (my mistake I know), losing my mind while studying for finals. I overheard him talk about how he needs his reel to do better to reach a wider audience. The sheer juxtaposition in that moment was hilarious. What happens to these influencers when Instagram loses its hype? After all, all social media has gotten replaced by a newer, fresher one.

Don’t get me wrong, I have succumbed to this phenomenon of consuming influencer content as well, but a critique never hurt anyone. Except when it did, lol.

I’ll leave you with a question, which is the primary reason why I thought to write this. Is the rise of influencer culture a way forward for society, by encouraging people like you and me to get a platform? Or is it just another disguised way of dividing us further? So close yet so far.