Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Brunch
Selfie to self-realisation
How one of India’s first fashion content creators found her way out of social media insecurity
In the world of faulty terminology, “social distancing” is one that really gets my goat. We’re “physical distancing,” not cutting ourselves off from society, are we?!
Sadly, it’s a term we’re going to have to live with... Just like the word “influencer”.
Isn’t everybody who leaves an impression on you an influencer? Aren’t our parents/teachers the OG influencers? Isn’t the guy helping the blind man cross the street an influencer? For me, my office security guard, who has never been a minute late to work in his entire 30-year long career, is the influencer to emulate!
At Brunch, we call our new breed of social media stars content creators. We define them further by specifying the kind of stories they tell: fashion content creators, tech, humour, and so on.
But, whether it’s the catchiness of the term or just clever marketing, the word “influencer” is here to stay.
Which is why I need to set out this apology. We’ve used the term “influencing” on our cover today, though it is as faulty as a verb as it is a noun. It seems the best way to communicate a line of thought few people have ventured towards yet.
Cover girl Santoshi Shetty, at 28, is a veteran in the world of social media. An early adapter of posting pictures of herself in fashionable clothing, Santoshi’s start dates back to pre-instagram days.
“I was at an H&M store in Europe long before the brand came to India, and asked my parents to click some pictures,” Santoshi says. She posted these on her return, not knowing she was stepping into a new world that would become a viable career in the years to come.
Santoshi’s following grew, and she became one of the biggest fashion content creators in India. Brands called her up for the first collabs they’d ever do on social media, she was invited to fancy events, and younger people from her audience set up their own Instagram pages. Many of them are well-known “influencers” today.
In our cover story, Santoshi tells us about her reality check. This attractive new world was heady, but it was led by the constant need for validation from others. It could lead to insecurity and mental health issues. Santoshi tells us how she found her way out.
Santoshi is still a content creator and a voice to reckon with. Read on for more on how she finds true happiness in personal relationships and in real life.
“ISN’T EVERYBODY WHO LEAVES AN IMPRESSION ON YOU AN INFLUENCER? ISN’T THE GUY HELPING THE BLIND MAN CROSS THE STREET AN INFLUENCER?”
Also in this issue: To mark Suicide Prevention September, media professional Dharmesh Dave writes about his close experiences with this fatal step.
Three girls get talking about women’s health: It’s also PCOS awareness month, and Dr Kiran Coelho, the celeb gynac, who was last seen on Netflix’s Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, offers some helpful tips. And… with Tripadvisor being called out for organising tours in the slums of India, my colleague Urvee Modwel and I argue whether such visits offer insights or romanticise harsh realities.