The world of social media influencers, in general, is one that is shrouded in cautious distrust and filled with head-swirling glamour in equal measure. In this relatively new industry, there are preteens and teens swooning over their favourite influencer, on the one hand, and there are those that view the very job with suspicion on the other.

This division became apparent when earlier this month, two well-known influencers, Komal Pandey and Roshni Bhatia, called out StalkBuyLove, an online retailer for non-payment for content Bhatia and Pandey had created for the women-focused shopping brand. In response to their public outcry, Shikha Ahluwalia, one of the founders of the e-commerce website, put out a video statement on Instagram explaining the financial problems the brand was facing. But soon, the issue spilled into the public domain, sparking off a conversation around the ethics behind being an influencer. Some even alleged that influencers manipulate their social media presence, and often misuse it to strong-arm other parties into agreeing to their terms.