The influencer-follower break-up

The iconic Shah Rukh Khan SRK once said The reason I am good to fans and I believe in them is because I am employed by themrdquo It would seem that SRK feels that his service to his fans is bigger than his own ego As he has also said ldquothe only thing I can do for my fans is to never stop workingrdquoOur influencers today could learn from SRK On the one hand they care a lot about their followers get work because of the follower count and want to do literally anything to get more and more and more followers On the other if follower feedback hurts their ego they lash back with brutal shadeLet me explain Creator Aishwarya Mohanraj whom I quite liked especially for a video where she addressed losing girlfriends who you thought were like sisters has recently come out with a video that speaks to her followers who have a problem with her ldquohusbandcentricrdquo content In it she basically says that the follower who canrsquot get on board with her personality right now should break up with her unfollow her because donrsquot we all outgrow each otherRightly said Aishwarya but why couldnrsquot you just say it in a better way Why did you have to dumb yourself down Why did you treat your loyal followers who have been following you since your Comicstan days with such condescensionYou may think I am being hard on her But hear me out In most of the video she says that she has always been the same person someone who talks about lived experience and once she spoke about not finding a ldquosane manrdquo now she talks about her ldquoonly manrdquo At one point in the video she says ldquoThere may be constructive criticism that says Hey Aishwarya why donrsquot you make content about life experiences like going to the parlour or the weird chachaji at homerdquo What Are those your only life experiences Then she says ldquoI have evolved into a married woman who talks about her marriage You may be single and donrsquot relate to my content You might be in a toxic relationshiprdquo What Why do I have to be single or in a toxic relationship to think that your content is repetitive boring and lacks originalityBut itrsquos not only about Aishwarya Itrsquos about all influencers who feel upset or angry when their followers give hate with the same intensity as they give love The influencer then lashes out with almost ldquotujantanahinmainkaunhurdquo energy Of course you shouldnrsquot take it lying down when followers harass you But to take feedback see whatrsquos working see what you can do to diversify improve give the people what they want still keeping your authenticity intact mdash isnrsquot that what a creatorinfluencer does If the follower bought every little product you ever peddled should you break up with them just because they asked for content that didnrsquot speak of your husband But also should followers not just accept their favourite creatorrsquos new avatarI may be wrong I do feel the best Instagram accounts are those when people are truly themselves Unique Unbothered Not worried about the likes and followers mdash just talking about what they feel Their true life experiences But usually those arenrsquot the people who are getting Netflix and Amazon Prime gigsBut I may be wrong See you next weekRanting and raving about all thatrsquos trending on social media Aastha Atray Banan is an author creator podcaster and the Editor of your favourite weekend read Sunday midday She posts at aasthaatray on InstagramSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper