No followers online? Well, no job then!

Itrsquos an Instagram world and we just live in it First it was used to share memories and achievements mdash now employers look at your follower count before hiring you If this seems like an episode of Black Mirror well actor Paarth Idnani will say it may just be Idnani recently went viral for saying hersquod been rejected for a role because he ldquodidnrsquot have enough followersrdquo He said that now he must focus on building an Instagram account asking people to be kind enough to follow him so he can pursue his dreams of actingWhat happened with Idnani we found out is happening with many others Bhumika Gurung was just 15 when she began acting The industry quickly proved too demanding pushing her towards a corporate career But the pull of performance kept bringing her back After years of auditioning she landed roles on shows like Gumrah on Channel V before her breakout in Nimki MukhiyaPrachi Singh believes that followers can help enter a gatekept industry PICINSTAGRAMprachi_singh1512Gurung was shocked when she was rejected from an audition purely because of her follower count ldquoAsking actors for their social media handles before auditioning them is extremely unfairrdquo she says ldquoWe are actors not content creators or dancers People hiring us cannot judge us by how we dance on ReelsrdquoldquoA lot of people are selected because theyrsquore famous on social mediardquo she adds ldquoThey seldom have acting skills Directors claim theyrsquoll lsquomanage the acting partrsquo Itrsquos heartbreaking to see trained actors struggle while influencers get roles instantlyrdquoShe remembers when TV was a space for discovering new talent ldquoNow the people being cast seem flat Therersquos no novelty no freshnessrdquo Today at 32 Gurung has over seven lakh followers When she faced that rejection she had barely a lakh Even then it was not enough Shersquos shifting to films now where she says ldquothey donrsquot care as much because I have a substantial body of work But during the pandemic I didnrsquot have past roles to add to my show reelrdquoNipun Jain and Mohit Mamoria believe they would have never gotten a book deal without their YouTube audience PICISHAD ALAMActress Prachi Singh who started with small ads before landing Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi currently sits at 16 lakh followers ldquoIn TV specifically follower counts are not that importantrdquo she says ldquoBut in general asking follower counts has started to become more common For Instagram miniseries especially recognisability becomes importantrdquoSingh gained her following early 2024 She has definitely noticed a difference in the kind of roles she gets But for Singh this is a good thing ldquoThe industry has always had its doors closed At least having followers gives me an in in some wayrdquo she saysBut what are casting agents thinking Doesnrsquot talent matter at all Now working as an independent casting assistant and having worked under several reputed casting directors Rachit Agarwal has had a work experience where social media presence did not matter at all He says ldquoWe usually do not even ask for the social media handles of the people auditioningrdquoRachit Agarwal Casting agent and Paarth Idnani aspiring actorBut sometimes itrsquos simply out of the hands of the casting agent ldquoIf the client is a brand that wants to feature someone with a good follower count then they do mention the need for a model or an actor with a specific social media presence in their brief In that case we have to comply with the clientrdquo he lamentslsquoI was rejected because I had 800 followersrsquoAs an actress and a model who has been working since the last six years Rachel Pinto had 800 followers on Instagram when she started out as a freelancer She auditioned for a role and got shortlisted for it but was later informed by the casting crew that they could not proceed ahead with her due to a lower number of social media followers She says ldquoWhen this happened they offered me a secondary role which felt demeaning and humiliating I had worked for them before and I had not expected something like this from themrdquoFor model Rachel Pinto Instagram became her portfolio PICNIMESH DAVEFollowing this incident building a social media persona became much more important for Pinto ldquoI started out content creation for fun mdash something I liked doing whenever I had timerdquo she adds ldquoHowever after the rejection it became important to stay consistent with it I started gaining followers and then I could never turn my account private I had to keep posting even when I didnrsquot want to This also began to take a toll on my mental healthrdquoPinto claims that a lot of people without experience were preferred given that they had a higher social media traction To her surprise even social media profiles began to be treated as work portfolios She expresses ldquoI now focus on what I like to do I know Irsquoll get opportunities if people like my work and believing that has helped me a lotrdquolsquoShift to video changed everythingrsquoBACK in the day podcasts were where you turned to hear subjectmatter experts Niche shows could attract lakhs of deeply invested listeners ldquoPodcasts really took off in India during the pandemic and what wersquore seeing now is a natural shift from audio to video because thatrsquos where audiences are Being comfortable on camera has become almost as important as subjectmatter expertiserdquo says Kavita Rajwade cofounder of IVM PodcastsKavita Rajwade cofounder of IVM PodcastsldquoThe margin for trial and error is far smaller today At IVM we were built on expertled conversations but in branded content specifically we increasingly see audiences gravitating toward familiar faces A strong follower base has become a real indicator of discoverability so yes we factor that inrdquoRajwade points to a moment on Unfiltered with Samdish where creator Samdish Bhatia interviewed veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai ldquoRajdeep joked that despite decades of reporting and formal training his videos might get 5000 views while Samdish pulls in five lakh It highlights an interesting shift experience matters but storytelling and audience connection matter toordquoAccording to Rajwade this isnrsquot an ldquoeitheror scenariordquo ldquoShows driven by reach and personality often make it possible for us to fund more niche expertled projects Both formats coexist and both are essential to the ecosystem This is just the reality of how audiences engage todayrdquolsquoYou never know if a YouTube audience will translate to readersrsquoIn March 2023 Nipun Jain and Mohit Mamoria launched Arey Pata Hai a YouTube quizzing channel built on bitesized entertaining trivia In the seventh month of this project everything changed ldquoOn October 1 2023 we had 747 subscribers by October 31 we had one lakhrdquo says Jain Buoyed by this rise Jain wrote in her manifestation journal that they should publish a book a goal that materialised in November 2025 with lsquoWhat the Whatrsquo a book that aims at educating its readers in a fun wayToday the channel has over nine lakh subscribers ldquoWe would have never gotten this opportunity if it wasnrsquot for YouTuberdquo says Mamoria ldquoWe donrsquot have fancy degrees but we still wanted to write something informative and educationalrdquo Jain adds ldquoPeople kept saying educational content canrsquot be fun We broke that mold with our channel and wanted to do the same with the bookrdquoFor publishers their follower count became a form of validation ldquoIt was proof of work We could show we had a dedicated audience It gave us room to experimentrdquo says Mamoria They did attempt pitching the book without mentioning numbers ldquoWe were told to just keep mailing publishersrdquo he says ldquoBut the follower count helps you stand out Irsquom not saying you canrsquot publish without it Just be prepared for it to be much harderrdquoJain is cautious about the rise of books by creators ldquoIt would be stupid for any publishing house to fill 100 per cent of its list with creator titles Theyrsquod lose credibility Noncreator authors will always have a larger space Yes the pie has shifted a little but the bigger slice still belongs to traditional writersrdquoThe duo used their audience as a realtime litmus test during the writing process ldquoWe could gauge exactly what kind of book they wantrdquo says Jain Mamoria adds ldquoWe wrote over 300 pages but the final draft had 280 We gave those extra pages to our audience for free You never know if a YouTube audience will convert to readers That first free taste helped nudge them towards the bookrdquolsquoIf you only look at follower counts then how will we find new talentrsquoEven in the music scene Tapas Relia tells us that asking for follower counts has become more and more prevalent You might recognise Relia as the composer from the hit song ldquoDumADumrdquo from the film Dhanak which has been making the rounds on Instagram lately He says ldquoThe problem is that artiste management companies have started asking this question Management is supposed to recognise talent and then groom artistes promote their work get them gigs But if they only start looking for follower counts then how will we ever find fresh talentrdquoTapas Relia music composerHe finds followers to be a foolrsquos metric to measure talent ldquoThe irony is that in spite of everyone knowing that every aspect of social media can be bought it is still seen as the only authentic tool to measure successrdquo he says Moreover itrsquos starting to hurt how much money artistes can charge ldquoWhen you quote a price to a client for a gig they might just say lsquoBut you only have 3000 followers Why should I pay you so muchrsquo But quality should matter more than quantityrdquoMusician and entrepreneur Raghav Meattle however can see both sides of the coin ldquoWhen I am looking for artistes for my company firstwav I want to see the ability of a musician to form a community How many people can they get engaged in their artistry The easiest way to check that is their Instagram followingrdquo he saysRaghav Meattle singerHe also argues that music is quite different from the film industry The barrier to entry is relatively low If a musician wants to make music they can do so from the comfort of their home But an actor cannot make a movie sitting at home ldquoFor musicians social media is the place where they share their music their journey their story Itrsquos the place where their fans congregate So it does show how much people connect with yourdquo