A reality check for influencers

Anirban Choudhury

(eternalflamenew@gmail.com)

The furore over some controversial comments made by one of India’s leading social media influencers at a YouTube show recently has brought the nation’s sharp focus on the influencer culture, if not already served as a reality check for those in the industry.

A product of the digital media age, the social media influencers were hailed as the next big thing as they captivated their audiences with their engaging posts, reels, podcasts, stories, etc, and amassed millions of followers/subscribers across social media platforms. Redefining digital engagement, these influencers set new standards in content creation, building robust online communities and driving meaningful conversations by leveraging their expertise. In the backdrop of the exponential growth of digital media, they opened new vistas vis-à-vis social engagement for stakeholders across sectors. From politicians engaging them to try and influence electoral outcomes, to corporate hiring their services for new launches, to humanitarian agencies using them to amplify their programmes, almost everyone started banking upon these influencers hugely to reach out to their respective target audiences, especially the youth.

This new influencer culture also provided a platform to talented young minds to explore new thematic frontiers, as they began to experiment with different genres. While some focused on political content, others covered domains such as fitness, travel, food, finance, beauty and fashion. With millions of followers/subscribers, the social media influencers emerged as a cost effective solution for marketing, as they helped industry reach out to their target audience without having to hire celebrities for a fortune. Of late, even many States and government agencies have been found using such influencers for mass reach-out initiatives. For instance, Assam’s popular YouTuber Dimpu Baruah was hired as a brand ambassador by the Election Commission during the 2021 Assembly election, while UP Government is utilising services of influencers to showcase the Maha Kumbh. There were even reports sometime back of the Government of Assam too mulling using influencers to highlight its various initiatives.

No wonder then that what started as a way for some individuals to share their personal experience and give recommendations also became a successful model to make money through sponsored content, paid subscriptions, consulting services, etc. To cite an instance, Ranveer Allahbadia, who goes by the moniker BeerBiceps and now finds himself in the midst of a massive controversy following his controversial comments at a YouTube show, has high-profile sponsorships, ranging from Amazon, to Mountain Dew, to Spotify, etc. According to Statista, a German online platform specialising in data gathering and visualisation, the estimated size of social media influencer market in India was a whopping Rs 55 billion in 2024, which was 20% more than the previous year, and was expected to grow further at a phenomenal compound annual growth rate of 25% until 2026. This just shows how big the industry of social media influencers is in the country.

However, notwithstanding the latest furore over Ranveer, not everything is hunky dory either with regard to the influencer industry. Following the massive outrage that followed his comments, the BeerBiceps guy lost 65,000 of his Instagram and YouTube followers/subscribers within days, according to influencer analytics platform Qoruz. This has reportedly forced some of the brands to rethink their association with him, though none of them have officially terminated their links with him yet. The incident clearly highlights how fragile the influencer industry is, if it’s not entirely on a thin ice. With credibility being their core, the influencers amass following through content to which their audience relate to, and trust. But, the moment the trust is ruptured, their entire world comes crashing down. So, as Ranveer now prepares for his long legal battles ahead, many celebrities have announced pulling out from his shows, possibly costing him in millions.

Further, there seems to be a big question mark on the social influencers’ ability to actually influence decision-making, especially with regard to influencing poll outcomes. For instance, despite having almost 30 million subscribers and close to 6 billion views across all his channels, prominent YouTuber Dhruv Rathee failed to influence the Assembly election outcomes in Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi. He failed spectacularly during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls too. Despite campaigning relentlessly for forces opposed to the BJP by putting up a series of vlogs on his channels, none of these have had any effect on the electorate. Similarly, two influencers lost miserably in Maharashtra and Delhi Assembly polls — while Ajaz Khan with 5.6 million Instagram followers garnered a mere 155 votes from Versova in Maharashtra, Meghnad S managed just 192 votes from Malaviya Nagar in Delhi. The two instances are stark reminders that huge following is no guarantee for political success.

But, despite all these, the momentum picked up by the influencer industry is unlikely to wane anytime soon. The influencers will continue to thrive, driving digital engagement and dominating brand marketing through a more tailored and targeted approaches for connecting with audiences, and ultimately influencing individual conduct. The rise of regional influencers and niche content creators has only lent a new dynamism to the influencer industry. But, thriving on perception, the social media influencers would also do well to tread cautiously, and not push the envelope of free speech too far by ruffling the feathers of their audience, lest they lose their credibility and thereby their followers/subscribers. Ranveer Allahbadia’s case serves as a reality check in this regard. Of course, this is not to suggest that government put curbs on social media influencers.