The popularity and perils of the selfie craze

In the era of validation where every like and follow matters, selfies with the famous have become the easy route to fame. And some will go to any lengths to get them

Fashion and lifestyle blogger Shreyasi Sarkar, 29, boasts of an assorted collection of celebrity selfies. The Mumbai resident became a Twitter influencer early in her career. “While I was still in college, I’d get invited to movie premieres to take selfies with the stars, which I’d then post.” She says she is like any other fan. “Sometimes, I would specially request for a meet-and-greet. Living in Mumbai also meant that I would often bump into them at a mall or cafe. But I am always careful about not invading their privacy.” On her Instagram, she has a highlight titled “Ninja” where she flaunts her selfie collection. “When I share my selfies, a lot of fan pages and celebrity-spotting media houses reshare my posts, tagging me, and giving me credit. It increases the engagement on my page.”

This writer too, has Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh to thank, for amping up her Instagram likes. A recent selfie with the actor drew 620-plus likes, the most we have raked in for a photograph in the nine years of being on the platform.

Nikhil Sharma

Social media expert Ankita Gaba says it’s the genius of celebrityhood. “When influencer Aiyoo Shraddha [recently] shared a photo with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it generated a significant amount of attention and engagement on social media; she was revered by her fans and followers. The same principles apply to a celeb. A selfie with a celebrity ups the game... It is a rat race after all; you must have people notice you more than others,” says Gaba, who is the cofounder and community head of the startup fibi, which runs fibiverse.com, a news and content platform that is the go-to destination for everything to do with influencers and content creators.

In her 2018 book, Reputation: What It Is and Why It Matters, Italian philosopher Gloria Origgi, conducted a social experiment taking a selfie with Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web, during a public conference. Within a few hours of posting it, she wrote, that she had received an invitation to participate in a think tank on new technologies; three invitations to give talks, and a request for an interview in an important periodical. “Those who saw the picture I posted may have reasoned that physical proximity to the inventor of the Web is not available to everyone and that whoever is able to be photographed next to him must know him personally or belong to a social circle close to his. This is an illustration of how reputation ‘flows’ from one person to another in ways that frequently escape rational evaluation,” she wrote in the book, published by Princeton University Press.

Fashion and lifestyle blogger Shreyasi Sarkar has a highlight on her Instagram where she flaunts her collection of celebrity selfies

While the selfie has become a readily-available tool to climb up the popularity ladder, it has also birthed an emboldened lot, who’ve forgotten where to draw the line. The recent selfie-scuffle incidents involving singer Sonu Nigam and cricketer Prithvi Shaw are proof. Shaw, who was attacked for refusing a selfie with Bhojpuri influencer Sapna Gill, had slapped assault charges on her, only to be later dragged in a case of outraging a woman’s modesty. Nigam was forced to file a police complaint after he and two colleagues were allegedly pushed by the son of an MLA during a scuffle over a selfie at a musical event in Mumbai. The singer tells mid-day, “I’m neck deep into this [concerts over the next eight days], [and have] no time to dwell on anything else. I can only say that I go out of my 
way to accommodate as many selfies and pictures as I can, and there are some who go away dissatisfied. I’m wondering what about the celebrities who don’t accommodate [fans at all].”

Gaba blames the rise of the influencer culture for the growing obsession. “The whole gene behind the life of an influencer is money, fame and hope. The desire to be recognised and valued in a highly competitive digital landscape motivates influencers to pursue opportunities to showcase their social connections and build a reputation. In addition to providing a boost in visibility, a celebrity selfie can also enhance the perceived value of an influencer’s content. By associating themselves with a famous individual, content creators can create a sense of authority around their brand, potentially leading to increased monetisation opportunities. Fame gets in money; more money can lead to more fame,” she says.

Shreyasi Sarkar

But what when influencers themselves become easy baits for fans?

Nikhil Sharma, popularly known as Mumbiker Nikhil, is one of India’s leading MotoVloggers and digital content creators. “In the early years when I didn’t have a company managing my brand, I’d travel by road to meet people. Sometimes, I would take selfies with nearly 700 people... I’d get exhausted by the end. But it was also overwhelming. This one time, when I was at a mall in Kurla, thousands of people came to meet me, and the crowd went berserk, forcing me to exit immediately.” Another time, Sharma remembers biking from Aligarh to Bhopal with his mother riding pillion. “I was chased by fans. I’ve also had incidents where fans have landed at my doorstep for a selfie. Some of them did it as a dare. After a string of such incidents, I made a video requesting them to not indulge in irresponsible behaviour. When I got married, I moved to a new apartment in a complex with better security.”  

Cricketer Prithvi Shaw was attacked for refusing a selfie with Bhojpuri influencer Sapna Gill; (right) Aditya Roy Kapur politely pushed aside a female fan who was trying to kiss him, while taking a selfie

Digital content creator Ruhee Dosani is best known for her videos with A-list celebrities, including Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, and Jahnvi Kapoor. Dosani doesn’t shy away from requests by fans, but it gets absurd when they can’t quite remember her name. “There have been instances when people take a picture with me, and then ask me for my Instagram ID so that they can tag me. They probably just saw a video of me with another celebrity, and think I am someone of influence, and feel they need to take a selfie. But that’s absurd,” she says. “These days, when I get approached, I first ask them my name, or tell them to mention a video of mine that they most liked. It’s a good ice-breaker...  I am an extrovert and like engaging with my followers. If they don’t know me, I let them know that they were lying. But I don’t like to make things stressful for anybody, so I get them to follow me on social at that very moment. It’s fun,” she laughs.

Viraj Sheth is the co-founder and CEO of Monk Entertainment, which represents over a hundred digital creators. Sheth, who was listed in the Forbes Asia 30 under 30, 2022 list, calls the selfie the bane of our times. “It’s agenda-driven. Many people chasing of these influencers and celebrities want to leverage their own social media. There is a serious need for policing,” he thinks. “A lot of fans think they own the celebrity, but consent his important,” says Sheth, giving the recent example of actor Aditya Roy Kapur, who had to deal with a female fan who tried to hug and kiss him, before he snuck out of the spot by politely pushing her aside.

Sneha Shah, Viraj Sheth and Ankita Gaba

When it comes to his own clients, Sheth says that at public events, he ensures that the security is top-notch. “We try and avoid physical contact with the fan, unless it’s a controlled environment, where we are organising a meet-and-greet, and fans are allowed to come and take a selfie or video byte. Even then, the creators/influencers will never initiate physical contact. Drawing boundaries is important. At the same time, we ensure that they don’t appear cold towards their subscribers and fans.”  

Psychologist and author Sneha Shah, director of Isra Centre for Training and Development, feels that the “obsessions with selfies, reflects a larger societal problem”. “The pressure to be seen as trending in order to feel valued, is a recipe for mental and emotional disturbance... it’s not surprising that people have become obsessed with their online presence.”

Digital content creator Ruhee Dosani says there have been instances when people have approached her to take a picture, but know little about her work on social media

Five selfie etiquette rules to follow

.  Always ask for permission before clicking a selfie with a celebrity
.  Be respectful of their time. If they decline your request, don’t push it or take it personally
.  Don’t invade their personal space or touch them without permission
.  If the celebrity is in a public place, be mindful of the surroundings and try not to cause a scene
.  Be polite and use appropriate language when approaching a celebrity

Courtesy/Sneha Shah

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