The banal is flourishing in the digital cosmos. The compulsive consumption of cockamamie is
on overdrive. A new tribe of voyeurs has created online stars through its bizarre fascination with videos about streamed suicides, moving furniture around and toddlers playing cute, all amassing millions of views. For example, a viral video shared on Twitter by the ‘Hasna Zaroori Hai’ page showed a woman, face hidden, combing her long tresses on a Delhi Metro train using a hair straightener that she has plugged into a socket in the compartment.
Seriously? Yup. It clocked eight lakh views. Another video, ‘Brother Birthday Celebration Live’, got 13,000 views and 1,200 likes. A video posted by a TikTok user @ninalaevski, ‘Going on a stupid walk for my stupid mental health’, is about her plodding through the snow as a catchy tune plays in the background. Do viewers care? Apparently, they do—it netted 8.4 million views and about 9,00,000 likes.
Though TikTok is banned in India, thousands of videos are posted through VPNs. Then there is the war of influencers in a world full of ‘challenges’. Pakistani YouTuber Shahveer Jafry posted a video of him trying to ‘choke’ his wife with a pillow as a joke: he was just participating in the ‘Blackout Challenge’ that involves choking oneself or someone else until they pass out. Though Jafry was lambasted online, his video garnered 4,13,000 views.
UNIVERSE OF NONSENSE
Morbidity is the most compelling cause on the internet today. In June, a family in Uttar Pradesh recorded a 26-year-old married woman hanging herself from a fan in Mathura; it got about 1.5 lakh views. Such videos are a mirror of what makes people tick and reflect the social concerns of the day. “There is a fascination with taboo. The shock value from it spirals into an adrenaline rush that creates
a dependence on grim content.
Fuelled by intrigue and curiosity, the darker side of human behaviour is always attractive to watch,” says Gurugram-based psychotherapist and NLP coach Babita Singh. An average person has five social media accounts and spends nearly seven hours online per day, according to a July 2022 study by We Are Social and Hootsuite. On average, 7.4 platforms are accessed per month worldwide, but in India, that number is 8.7. YouTube is king: more than 500 hours of content is uploaded on it every minute. One billion hours of absurdity is consumed every day, especially by viewers aged 15-35 years, according to a 2021 survey by Sproutsocial.
Within this, the subgenre of family vloggers swelled by 90 per cent in 2017 and continues to grow, according to Time magazine. “The success formula is simple: make good enough videos with consistency. Explore all formats, but make bite-sized content interspersed with long-form videos to keep viewers engaged. And the common denominator is clickbait captions and sensationalised thumbnails,” says Gurugram-based social media analyst Ruchi Singhal, adding, “In the end, the biggest metric is omnipresence. Be present in the lives of the audience, multiple times a day through posts, reels, Q&As etc.”
Ridiculous is the rage of the age. “Band karo yeh camera, abhi ke abhi band karo (turn off this camera; do it immediately),” 33-year-old Surat-based digital content creator Shivani Kapila is seen saying in a recent vlog on her YouTube channel, Little Glove (11.5 million subscribers). She has just found a pack of cigarettes in her husband’s drawer. As she confronts him, the tension in the room is palpable. He offers her a meek apology but gets a cold, red-faced stare in return. Kapila screams for her mother-in-law with flailing arms; the latter scampers into the room, as terrified as her son. Nobody utters a word.
Within seconds, the silence is pierced by an explosive rant—Kapila threatens her husband with serious consequences. As the altercation escalates, she runs in the direction of the camera held by an unknown person and covers the lens. The cliffhanger ending of the vlog, which got 817K views, has left 15-year-old student Anushka Jaiswal, who’s watching the episode in Kolkata, hankering for more. “I can’t wait for Part II in which Kapila discloses what happened when the cameras stopped rolling,” says Jaiswal, who finds the emotional engagement of family vlogs, complete with suspense, drama and anticipation, exhilarating. It’s the best kind of edge-of-the-seat entertainment for her. “With their tales of familial life, they showcase their daily experiences and personal moments with an authenticity that resonates with the viewer,” she says.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
In the multibillion-dollar industry of social media stars, family antics have seen meteoric success in the last few years. “It’s a new kind of slice-of-life storytelling that speaks to our basic emotions. To some it may be a source of entertainment, and to others, escapism. The ‘everydayness’ of such content makes it engaging,” says Delhi-based sociologist Meetu Nagpal, who believes one of the reasons why family vlogs appeal to so many is the depiction of multiple characters, each offering something unique.
“The cultural values put forth by these vloggers are a reaffirmation of the enduring nature of familial relationships. Watching this is comforting,” she says. Delhi-based 29-year-old illustrator Ruchi Srivastava, one of the first subscribers of Kapila’s channel, can’t agree more. “They’re just like us; they have roles, responsibilities and relationship complexities. The ordinariness of such content validates the experiences of the viewer,” says Srivastava, who turns to vloggers for parenting advice. Her go-to people are Greesh Bhatt and Family with 1.24M followers and Mom Com India with 2.97M subscribers on YouTube. “As a new mom, I watch these vlogs for insights and advice on baby care,” she says. There’s plenty of choice too, given the ease of creation; no special skills, expertise or fancy equipment are required. All you need is a handheld camera or a smartphone, and a decent internet connection, and one can just start shooting.
In the evolution from traditional media such as TV to new-age digital platforms, the shift in viewership preferences has been influenced by two things: the power of personal storytelling and the democratisation of content. Add to that, digital accessibility (over 50 per cent of Indians are active Internet users; this is expected to reach 900 million by 2025, according to the Internet in India Report, 2022), which allows the viewer to access diverse content. “Content is the currency in today’s digital economy, and a family unit poses immense possibilities for income generation, with each member having a monetary value,” says Guwahati-based social anthropologist Krittika Bhuiya.
Earning upwards of six lakhs a month, one of the most popular family YouTubers in India, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, shared their story. “We became overnight stars. Never in a million years did we imagine the kind of love our simple family would garner,” says the father, who vlogs with his wife, son and daughter, all of whom have reached celebrity status. “Our kids alone make half of the family income with sponsored posts, brand partnerships and modelling assignments, not to mention all the free clothes, toys and books they get as perks of their ‘job’. They are already financially independent, and they’re still in their teens,” he says.
Fence-peaking fantasy
The fascination with the lives of others is a hard-wired human default. Such inquisitiveness, however, has grown into a voyeuristic tendency and the advancements of technology have made it easier to access people’s private moments. Paradoxically, these glimpses are offered by the vloggers themselves. “The driving factors here are the human traits of curiosity and social comparison. With the advent of reality TV, the scope of comparison increased multifold. The pervasive growth of vloggers has heralded a culture of fence-peaking into the darkest, most vulnerable parts of human life. It reinforces the want for superiority and validation through scandal, suspense, salaciousness and secrets,” says Delhi-based Dr Rahul Chandhok, head consultant, mental health and behavioural science, Artemis Hospital, Gurugram.
This digital obsession has an evolutionary component. Our fixation with drama has a psychological motive: survival. Primitive man needed to gather information to protect him from danger. “By observing others closely, he honed his instinct to keep himself alive,” says Delhi-based psychologist Rituparna Sharma, adding, “Our need for drama has evolved from this tendency.” On a positive note, it serves a therapeutic purpose as well: watching drama paves the way for catharsis and becomes an outlet for emotional exploration and introspection. Videos on YouTube, Reels etc., bring it closer home. In the far-flung reaches of rural and small-town India, these videos are the only source of entertainment.
Ordinary is special
The appeal of family vlogs ballooned with one of the genre’s pioneers in India—the Singh Family—comprising mother and father Ramneek and Puneet, and their three children, Anaanya, Shanaya and Siaan. With a combined following of over 20 million on YouTube, they scripted a new chapter in reality entertainment with hyper-personal content. Sample the description of one of their vlogs: “Today I’m going to tie (sic) a turban on my little son Sahibjot Singh, had so many comments and messages on his turban, so here we are today, if you like it please do like it and share a comment below.” If there is
an argument between any of the members, it is paused until the camera starts rolling. Burnout
is common, but the thrill of shooting keeps them going.
“There’s a dearth of clean content and family vlogs fill that gap. Also, in an ecosystem of misleading narratives plaguing social media, these vlogs offer trust,” says Delhi-based Ramneek, who believes the directness of vlogging creates proximity between the creator and audience. “Vlogs come with some editorial roughness, which makes the narration more realistic. Social media features such as likes, shares, comments and polls allow the viewer to stay intimately connected,” he says. Delhi-based lawyer Farheen Javed agrees. The 27-year-old stays in touch with her favourite online protagonists, the Delhi-based sisters, 32-year-old Gulafshan Baji (Shazma) and 29-year-old Shabbo Baji (Soha), via the DM feature on Instagram and the comments section on YouTube. With their following of 934K subscribers on YouTube, the duo documents the life of a middle-class Muslim family through their channel, the Bajis. They’re best known for their satire and quick-witted répartie. “I write to them regularly about what I liked or disliked. Sometimes, they reply promising to show what I’ve requested. This personalisation makes the experience more real,” says Javed.
When real and reel integrates, the best kind of content is created and the Bajis have aced that game. Their day begins at 5 am with the fajr prayer. That’s also when they film, edit and get heaps of administration work done. A couple of hours and a hot cup of tea later, they take a nap. When they wake up, a mountain of household chores awaits them. After clearing off the load (all of which they vlog), they have their first meal of the day. Food is simple; they try to spend less time in the kitchen and more time working. After five-six hours of shooting, dinner preparations start. The Bajis rarely take a day off from work, but when they do, they visit their friend’s salon in Daryaganj for some pampering. The sisters are inseparable and depend on each other for everything. “It is this camaraderie based on shared experiences that I love watching,” says Javed.
The perfect escape
“In an age of oversharing, creator platforms have extended a voyeuristic edge with personal narratives. It is laced with intimate details, offering the viewer an emotional adventure from a constructed fantasy that serves as the perfect escape, slowly becoming a substitute for real connections,” says Chandhok. Think of it as a psychological process of renewal and repair. When the viewer follows the journey of
a creator through their life challenges, they integrate their feelings with those they’re watching. “If you watch content that shows self-compassion, resilience and mindfulness, you’ll imbibe that. If you see a personal crisis being overcome, you’ll internalise the victories,” he adds. According to Pew Research Center, videos aimed at children are highly popular, including the ones featuring those under the age of 13, regardless of their intended audience.
What books are to a nerd, digital creators are to a social media enthusiast like 21-year-old Mumbai-based BTech student Priyam Rajesh Mehta, who gravitates towards younger YouTubers for educational value. “I’ve discovered so many new interests just by watching vloggers: biking, travelling and keeping fit from husband-wife Shanice Shrestha Sharma and Mumbiker Nikhil’s vlogs (851K and 4.04M subscribers, respectively), gardening from the Sangwan family (633K subscribers) and performing short comic skits from the Aayu and Pihu Show (16.9M subscribers). From self-care videos to DIY tutorials and lifestyle updates, you can access it all,” he says.
Comfort of content
Just like comfort food, the new breed of online celebrities serves comfort content to create a sense of belonging. According to 20-year-old Mumbai-based businessman Shaikh Mohammed Jahangir Nasir, it has a therapeutic value; he turned to his favourite vloggers to fight isolation during the pandemic. “They were a virtual support system keeping me company when I was away from my family. Their videos provided a break from the somberness of disease, death and despair,” says Nasir, a fan of Suraj Pal Singh and Yashi Tank’s vlog titled, Suyash Vlogs (4.64M subscribers). Saurav Ghosh, a 31-year-old Indian Railways officer from Kolkata, who has been following Singh and Tank, calls them
‘a relationship encyclopedia’. “You’re able to see interpersonal dynamics practically as opposed to just talking about it. They normalise relationship conflicts,” says Ghosh. For 34-year-old business analyst, Mehul Bhatt, who shuttles between Delhi and Toronto, family channels inspire trust. “I gravitate towards vlogs with elders as they have a lot to share in terms of life experiences,” he says.
Never a dull moment
In a world where everything is content, there is always a healthy supply of entertainment that keeps you on tenterhooks. Jamshedpur-based student, 18-year-old Sarvagaya Prasad, is hooked to vlogs by Mumbiker Nikhil. “Unlike daily soaps where the plot drags for years, digital creators do the same job with more entertainment value in a few minutes,” he says.
Blame it on dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure among other things. “The physiological arousal from watching drama on screen is irresistible as it lets you experience emotions such as sadness, loneliness, anger, guilt, shame or conflict in a safe environment. The more you indulge in pleasure-seeking activities such as dramatised content, the more dopamine is produced, and the more addictive the habit becomes,” says Dr Syed Zafar Sultan Rizvi, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, Rampur.
Ask 26-year-old student Shreshta Das, who admits to being a drama addict. She’s currently watching the stem-winder YouTube sensation, Armaan Malik, with a massive following of 3.31M on YouTube alone. As he prepares for the baby showers of his not one but two wives in a video titled ‘baby shower pe bahut sara pyaar diya sab ne (everybody showered their love on the baby shower)’ with 5.3M views, Das watches the scenes unfold transfixed. One episode rolls into the other, in which both heavily pregnant wives are being taken to the hospital in a video titled delivery room me jana pada (going to the delivery room) with 1.6M views. The third one with 6.8M views takes the cake in absurdity: Malik enters the home wearing a garland, introducing a third woman as his new wife.
What follows is high-voltage drama, with the wives cussing and becoming breathless with rage. The blood pressure of one of his wives falls as she raises her hand at Malik. That’s when he discloses to them that it was a prank. “The intrigue and sensationalism are impossible to ignore. Seeing character flaws in all their vulnerability inspires confidence and superiority. Sounds twisted, but it is the truth,” says Das. Rizvi, however, attributes it to the schadenfreude behaviour or the tendency to seek pleasure and satisfaction in the failure or misery of others, providing relief to the watcher who feels less alone.
No child’s play
Child exploitation has taken a whole new meaning in the digital world of likes and shares. The loss of their autonomy is just the tip of the iceberg; the loss of innocence, though, is irreversible. “Growing up under the spotlight with millions of fans expecting you to show up every day can put immense pressure on kids. The fandom that develops creates a false sense of superiority and an unhealthy dependency on attention and validation. Failure becomes hard to contend with,” says Rizvi.
Despite the risks, the space of kid vloggers has catalysed the Rs 900-crore influencer marketing industry and is predicted to reach `2,200 crores in 2025. In 2020, YouTube Kids was the largest installed app globally. “When there is a monetary benefit to every click or view, it’s hard to refuse a good offer. We’re operating in an environment where companies have a better Return on Investment (ROI) through influencer marketing than traditional models and we want our kids to make the most of it,” confesses the mother of a 15-year-old student and vlogger Priya Jain (name changed), who belongs to a prominent family of social media creators on YouTube with a following of 16M.
But the child has a different story to tell: creator burnout, as they juggle school, home tuitions and extracurricular activities. Letting her guard down for a fleeting second, Priya says she hasn’t been sleeping well, feels tired and doesn’t feel like meeting friends. “Even though I enjoy the recognition and the perks of vlogging with my family, there are days when I don’t want to be in front of the camera,” she says. But her parents remind her that on the internet “out of sight is out of mind”. Germany-based digital anthropologist Harshitha Kumayaa says, “Those below consenting age act as ‘performers’ on demand and the additional task can add a lot of pressure on those who think it is a part of their role as a child in the family. For a child, who doesn’t know much beyond what’s instructed by the parent, showing up in front of the camera becomes normative behaviour.”
The loose regulatory framework around the protection of a child’s right to consent and privacy doesn’t do much to safeguard them either. “There is no law in India to regulate how minors are treated or projected on social media. There are several instances of mismanagement of their earnings by their guardians. Whether or not they’re provided safe working conditions is an ambiguous area with little accountability,” says Delhi-based lawyer Vernika Gupta. Sharenting (‘share’ and ‘parenting’) has emerged as a hot issue. This practice of parents sharing sensitive or vulnerable information about their children online makes them the biggest violators of their privacy, putting their safety and mental health at risk. “An injudicious uploading of content featuring kids also exposes them to cyber aggression, even sexual predators,” says Gupta.
But what about viewer discretion or ethical considerations while consuming such content? Says Poonam K Singh, a Gurugram-based chartered accountant and an ardent follower of family influencers: “Ultimately, content creation is a function of demand and supply. As long as there is content, there will be an audience,” she says. While pressing issues are brushed under the carpet, the ‘gratification drug’ seems to be the prescription of the day.
The power of influence
72 per cent of Gen Z and millennials follow influencers on social media (Hubspot.com)
Platforms like Instagram and YouTube have a combined market share of 56 per cent in India
(Ogilvy)
Half of social media users prefer video over other types of content (Sproutsocial.com)
66 per cent of consumers said the short-form video was the most engaging type of content in 2022, up from 50 per cent in 2020
The subgenre of family vloggers swelled by 90 per cent in 2017 and continues to grow
(Time magazine)
Micro-influencers generate up to 60 per cent more engagement than macro-influencers (Hubspot.com)
The influencer marketing industry is estimated to be worth $84.89 billion by 2028 (Indianretailer.com)
India has the largest YouTube audience with approximately 467 million active users
Viewer speak
Sarvagaya Prasad, Student
“Unlike daily soaps where the plot drags on for years, digital creators do the same job with more
entertainment value in a few minutes.”
Ruchi Srivastava, Illustrator
“Vloggers are just like us; they have duties, roles, responsibilities and relationship complexities. The ordinariness of such content validates the experiences of the viewer.”
Farheen Javed, Lawyer
“I write to them (the Bajis) regularly telling them what I liked or disliked. Sometimes, they reply, promising to show what I’ve requested.
This personalisation makes the experience more real.”
Mehul Bhatt, Business analyst
“I gravitate towards family vlogs with elders as they have a lot to share in terms of life experiences.”
Saurav Ghosh, Railway officer
“(Vloggers) Singh and Tank are a relationship encyclopedia. You’re able to see interpersonal dynamics practically (in their videos) as opposed to just talking about it.”
Creator Economy
While the global growth rate of individual creators is 18 per cent, the annualised growth rate for India is over 115 per cent (Animeta)
By 2026, one million creators in India would have at least 100K subscribers/followers, growing at 37 per cent at an annualised level, which will allow them to have a steady income at par with a well-paying full-time job (Animeta)
A 25 per cent growth is reported for the creator industry in the next five years. The market is currently valued at Rs 1,275 crore (GroupM India); from 2016 to 2022, the size of influencer marketing
at a global level proliferated from $1.7 billion to $16.4 billion (Ogilvy)
Mumbiker Nikhil: Nikhil Sharma and his wife Shanice Shrestha
Follower count: 4.04 million
Known for: Moto-vlogging, family, travel
Shanice Shrestha Vlogs: Shanice with Nikhil
Follower count: 853K
Known for: Travel and lifestyle
Little Glove: Shivani Kapila, husband Tushar Tyagi and daughter Aadya
Follower count: 12.1 million
Known for: Comedy, family relationships,
daily routine
Armaan Malik: Armaan Malik, wives Payal and Kritika and
their kids—twins Ayan and Tuba, and Zaid
Follower count: 3.46 million
Known for: Family Entertainment
Suyash Vlogs: Suraj Pal Singh and his best friend Yashi Tank
Follower count: 4.87 million
Known for: Lip-sync comedy, dance videos, pranks, fitness and travel
The Bajis: Sisters Gulafshan Baji (Shazma) and Shabbo Baji (Soha)
Follower count: 949K
Known for: Documenting the life of a middle-class Muslim family
Ramneek Singh 1313: Ramneek Singh, wife Puneet, children Anaanya, Shanaya and Siaan
Follower count: 6.07 million (the combined count of their six YouTube channels is over 20 million)
Known for: Hyper-personal, autobiographical content