Tag Indian social media

The entertainment industry in present times is not what it used to be a decade back. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter have changed the dynamics of entertainment. Let’s discuss how social media has changed our relations with entertainers, how they became so famous and what is their income model.

Social media has provided an ideal platform for the celebrities, actors and models who use these popular channels to post their photographs and information about their upcoming projects.The moment they post something, fans and admirers go berserk and reply back with likes and comments. They also send direct messages (DM) in the hope that the celebrity might reply, and when someone manages a reply, he/she goes to cloud nine. This is the power of social media. And this is not just limited to Hollywood, but is common around the world. You go to any part of the world, celebrities behave the same way. They want adulation, and fans give them just that. Even Bollywood stars are no exception, and Indian social media can vouch for that. 

Social media has changed the way celebrities are created. There are many influencers who are famous for the sake of being famous. They are no great achievers in any field, but social media especially Instagram is packed with their pictures, news, quotes and updates. For example, Kim Kardashian who is one of the leading influencers on social media without having any significant contribution in either films, music or modelling. You will often find her promoting either a cosmetic label, fitness product, or any other brand for which she charges thousands of dollars.

Social media has also come as a boon for such Hollywood stars who are not among the A listers. They have a huge following on social media and any top producer will love casting them in his project because their popularity will ensure the success of their ventures. Celebrities like Dwayne Johnson are not known for their acting skills, still his films are super duper hits. This is all due to their massive popularity on social media. In fact, social media itself has become the biggest reality show and everyone wants a piece of it.

Monetization of Popularity 

Social media has now become much more than just a communication platform. It’s a channel where you make money. In the past, the chartbuster singers hardly released a single album in a year, but that is not the case anymore. Now, you have YouTube, Instagram and Spotify stars who release their albums online on these channels and earn millions. And they don’t limit themselves with a single release, but are very prolific and come out with a new song every two to three months. This keeps them popular and rich at the same time. Can they ask for more? Social media has become a great medium for making money. For example, even if you have 1000 followers on Instagram, you can easily monetize that to have a regular income. There are many start-up brands that like to work with such minor celebrities since they cannot afford big stars. Many such small time influencers on social media in course of time became big names and started earning millions. The process of making a celebrity was turned on its head by social media. Now anyone with the right attitude and zeal can earn name and fame on social media.

Democratisation of Stars

Social media has demolished the idea of ‘elite class” and brought a level playing field. Now, the stars cannot guarantee the success of a project on the strength of their past achievements. Everybody – Big, small, or struggling artists have an equal chance to be successful. You don’t need to have a lot of connections to book a studio recording deal. You can release your number on the social media itself. In fact, the traditional ‘elite class’ now has a negative connotation, and is seen with contempt. Such celebrities are now considered ignorant of the real world.

Social media is particularly the most ideal platform for newcomers who are planning to make it big in the world of entertainment. Now they don’t need big production houses, endorsements, or advertisement blitzkrieg to promote themselves. They need only two things: talent, and attitude – the rest social media can take care of. In fact, to the courtesy of pandemic, whatever aura they had around them because of their stunning looks and appearance seems to have dissipated. They look so average in their homes without the support staff that made them look like Gods. In normal times, these mega stars were surrounded by a bevy of makeup artists who made them look like Greek Gods, but the pandemic has changed all that. They look as ordinary as any other person walking down the street. The aura of super stardom has vanished. This is the biggest reality check for audiences.

Social media has removed many stereotypes in the last few years. One doesn’t need to be based in a metropolitan, or a big city to become a star. Therefore, on social media, it’s not important which particular place you belong to, but what skills you possess as an artist, or how popular you are among the audience is more important. Social media has changed the way we entertain. Now, “fifteen minutes of fame” has become a reality. We don’t go to movie theatres to watch a two hour long film. We are happy watching 15 minutes of Kapil Sharma stand up comedy on the youTube or Netflix. Now, Salman Khan’s big budget ‘Radhe’ fails to bring us to the cinema halls, because we are happy watching Manoj Bajpai in “Family man” and Pankaj Tripathi in “Ludo.” We don’t buy costly albums anymore, we rather watch free streaming of songs on social media. In short, social media has completely changed  the modalities of how entertainment is provided and how we receive it. In all likelihood the trend will continue in the future, and all those associated with the entertainment world have to brace up for this new reality. Now, audiences are the real king and only they will decide what type of content to be made and how.

People use social media for different reasons. Mostly use it for connecting with their friends and family members. Lately, a lot of people use social media for promoting their brand, and engage with their target audience.

Campaigning on Social Media

However, another area where it proved very rewarding is politics. There is hardly any election anywhere in the world where social media isn’t used for campaigns. In the US Presidential election, we all saw how social media was used both by Republican as well as Democrat candidates. One of the finest examples of the social media use was witnessed in India way back in 2013. It was Arvind Kejriwal, and his new political outfit Aam Aadmi Party that skilfully used Indian social media to upset Congress’ applecart.

David vs. Goliath

Social media has played a pivotal role in boosting the image of both Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare. It literally made them ‘Hero’ from ‘Zero.’ Let’s talk about Anna Hazare’s ‘India Against Corruption’ movement which had created a frenzy among people across the country. The agitation was started against the corrupt practices of the Congress party that was in power that time. People came on the street in huge numbers in support of Anna. 

The crowd that gathered at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi was unprecedented. Anna  made the clarion call for ‘Second Azadi’ to free India from the misrule of the Congress party, the party that was in power for the last ten years. He addressed people in his inimitable style “My dear people of India! I am Anna… you are Anna.” His words had a magical effect on the people, and in a matter of weeks, the whole country was standing behind Anna Hazare.

Anna Hazare, the social worker was sitting on a fast until death at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi in support of his demand for Jan Lokpal Bill. His main supporter in that movement was Arvind Kejriwal. It was the power of social media that ignited the small spark of public annoyance into extreme anger. 

The UPA government at the center under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh came under pressure. The government knew about the power of social media, and tried it’s best to suppress the movement.  But the public support was so much in the favour of Anna Hazare, that every attempt to diffuse the intensity of agitation failed. 

Birth of a New Political Party

Unfortunately, the formidable team of Anna and Kejriwal could not bring agitation for ‘Jan Lokpal’ to its logical end. As a result, Arvind Kejriwal decided to fight against the existing political system on their turf, and formed the Aam Aadmi Party. In the 2013  assembly elections in Delhi, his party surprised everyone and formed the government in Delhi with just 28 seats. 

Although, Congress party supported it from outside thinking that eventually it will withdraw support at the opportune time. There were few instances in Indian politics when a newly formed political party defeated a more experienced and seasoned party like Congress. There is no doubt that Indian social media played a big role in this historic victory. 

It was the hard work and dedication of lakhs of Kejriwal’s supporters that in such a short time, the party not only got more seats in Delhi assembly than expected, but also formed the government. Kejriwal knew that he cannot run a minority government, and after ruling for just 49 days, he submitted his resignation to the Lt Governor. This was a smart move on his part, and in the election that soon followed, he got a thumping majority with 67 seats out of 70. 

Social media for Fighting against social evils

Social media has always played an important role in the fight against social evils by giving people a powerful platform. It helped them raise their voices against injustice and persecution. Social media has never failed in carrying the voice of people to the government. You go anywhere in the world, you will find social media playing an important role in exposing social evils and spreading awareness. It has become an effective means to put pressure on the government. 

There are many cases like ‘Aarushi murder case’, ‘Damini rape case’, and ‘Geetika-Gopal Kanda incident’ where social media was used to fight for justice. The extreme outrage over Delhi’s heart-wrenching Damini rape case was visible on social media. People all over the country started a campaign against the government. They demanded strict action against the accused. It was the pressure built up on social media that forced the then government to take some important steps in a hurry. The entire nation and social media stood with Damini. Slogans like ‘Justice for Damini’ reverberated on Indian social media. For creating such an atmosphere in favour of the victim, the entire credit should go to social media.

The Acceptance of Social Media

There is no doubt that the past of social media has been glorious, the present is exciting, and the future will be accordingly bright and successful. The way different sections of the society have accepted the virtues of social media, there is every likelihood that even in future, its acceptance and usefulness will remain. In fact, the power and reach of social media will spread even further in times to come. 

Those who are still reluctant to accept its relevance may have to pay a heavier price in the future like the Congress party was made to do. In the end, it will be apt to say that it’s highly beneficial to accept the importance and usefulness of social media because those who did it are in a much better position. 

Each Has His Own Way of Entertainment

When you hear the word ‘entertainment’ what comes to your mind – television, movies, sporting events, drama, or a party ? Well! People have their own favourites. 

Some like to see ‘Big Boss’ on the colour channel, while others prefer ‘Indian Idol’, and there are those who prefer a knowledge based show like ‘Kaun Banega Carorepati.’ At the same time, there are also those who like to see sportsmen in action. They take trouble to stand in long queues for hours to watch the IPL finals. 

But this is not what the majority of people prefer. Their definition of entertainment is simple. It should be available to them 24x7x365. They should literally carry it. This is where Indian social media comes into the picture. Over the years, the mode of entertainment has changed. 

People now spend more time at home or at the office. And since the pandemic made its appearance, almost everyone is imprisoned within the four walls. 

How Social Media Became a Source of Entertainment ?

Social media initially came as a platform to connect with your long lost school friends who got separated with the passage of time. They either shifted to another city, or you settled in another place. You never imagined to see them again, but social media did just that. 

Once you discovered your childhood friend on Facebook, you wanted to share a lot of stories, anecdotes, and incidents with him. There were many pictures from important events of your life such as when you cleared your class X board exam with flying colours, when you purchased your first smartphone, when you got your first motorbike, and when you got selected for the IIT. There were many moments that you wanted to share with your best friend. 

Gradually, people started spending more time on these social media channels. They found there are a lot of things they can do to entertain themselves. They can watch standup comedy by Raju Srivastava, they can watch Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ video on YouTube, and they can also watch the highlights of the Soccer World Cup. 

Watching Videos

People keep on posting interesting and informative videos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For instance, if you missed the ‘Indian Idol’ final, you can always watch it on Facebook, or YouTube. 

If you had gone for a party on Sunday evening and missed the latest ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ you can still catch that episode on YouTube, or any other channel. You can watch interviews of your favorite singer or the film star.

Sometimes, you get to see legends of yesteryear who are no more. You cannot imagine how a Kishore Kumar, or a Dev Anand fan would feel after seeing their idols talking in a video. These videos may have been recorded long ago, but you are still able to enjoy them because of these social media channels. 

You also get to see interesting videos of forest and wild animals on channels like Discovery and Animal Planet. It’s really exciting to see how a tiger chases its prey, and how a bison scares off a lion. These videos are so engrossing and entertaining that you spend hours watching them. 

Watching Important Events

In the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, social media was an important source of giving updates and news about various events. It was exciting to see India’s Mirabai Chanu winning the silver medal. 

And when Neeraj Chopra won India’s first ever Gold medal in the track and field event, the social media was exploding with record traffic. Everybody wanted  to witness that historical moment when a 23 year old young man from Haryana threw his Javelin more than 87 metres. And there was no better platform than social media to watch that event.. 

Again on the 15th August, when Prime Narendra Modi stood on the rampant of Red Fort, people watched this event on Twitter. When the Taliban seized Kabul, people all over the world first watched this on Twitter. It also showed the pictures of how Afghani men, women, and children were Jostling at Kabul Airport to board inside planes. 

Engaging with Celebrities

Instagram is the favorite channel of celebrities. Whether it’s a Bollywood star like Priyanka Chopra, Dipika Padukone, or Ranvir Singh, or Hollywood A-listers like Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, or Anna Hathaway, they are all on Instagram. Besides, they also have millions of followers who religiously follow their icons, and anxiously wait for their latest photographs or videos. 

Celebrities too know that to maintain their popularity, they need to engage frequently with their fans. Sometimes, a lucky user also manages a reply from these celebrities. The channel is also used for uploading promos of latest movies. 

People often get free entertainment through these engagements, and celebrities get a much-needed promotion  of their next movie. There is a lot of curiosity among common people about the private lives of celebrities. And Instagram is one platform that keeps feeding them with such videos,