The Insta-celeb is a unique phenomenon of our times. You know an Insta-celeb when you see one. He or she knows how to pout, to flick the hair and to deliver a covetable ‘airport swag’. These are individuals with a penchant for sharing their happiness with the world via the phone app Instagram or any number of similar platforms: from the cars they travel by to the food they eat, the vacations they go on, the designer wardrobes they own and the weddings where they dance the night away. Oh, and they always travel first class on an airplane.

As humans we are intrinsically nosy and it’s entertaining to get this all-pervasive view of another person’s life. In today’s digital age, many consider personal privacy to be overrated anyway. With cellphones ubiquitous and the internet becoming an absolute necessity, Insta-celebs are but inevitable outcomes that are now lauded as ‘fashion influencers’ and ‘style icons’.

There are individuals whose sole claim to fame is the internet, those dubbed — as Paris Hilton once was — “being famous for being famous.” Within Pakistan, the late Qandeel Baloch and the fleetingly famous ‘Chai Wala’ are prime examples. There are others who may be working in show business and simultaneously delve into alternate careers as Insta-stars.

What’s the point in all this self-promotion, in mastering the duck face and investing hours into getting just the right angle for a selfie?

Photo- and video-sharing cellphone applications have caught the fancy of our showbiz celebrities. Is it just a passing phase? Or will it transform into a new kind of marketing strategy?

“Humans are generally insecure and like getting compliments,” says actor and director Humayun Saeed whose online appearances are sporadic. “One can say that Instagram celebrities are an extension of this. Getting compliments and ‘likes’ can be a boost for some actors, especially those who have just started off their careers.”

More significantly, however, Insta-fame can be quite lucrative. The Kardashians and Kendall Jenners of the world earn millions by endorsing products through their personal pages and owe their careers to the initial boost provided to them via the internet. Following these virtual footsteps, celebrities all over the world have hopped on to the same bandwagon.

Within our motley crew of stars, an actress with a huge following on Instagram can demand around Rs500,000 for endorsing a brand online — and she may just choose to keep the product that she is endorsing. Lesser Insta-popular stars settle for lower sums, around Rs150,000 or so, assiduously building their followers so that they can hike up their asking price.

It’s no wonder then that every local celebrity is now online and raring to go. A veteran such as Samina Peerzada has had the foresight to launch a YouTube channel of her own where she airs out celebrity interviews. Longtime director/producer Wajahat Rauf has delved into his funny side by becoming the ‘Voiceover Man’ on YouTube. Actor and comedian Yasir Hussain is suddenly fixated with SnapChat. Show business’ young are all online, ranging from an up-and-coming singer such as Asim Azhar to actors such as Iqra Aziz, Mansha Pasha, Azfar Rehman, Syra Shahroz, Maya Ali, Osman Khalid Butt, Sheheryar Munawar, Ahad Raza Mir, Sajjal Aly, Bilal Ashraf and twins Aimal and Minal Khan. You may have heard of some of them while others would be completely unknown to you. But search them out on Instagram and they all have hundreds of thousands of followers.

What’s the point in all this self-promotion, in mastering the duck face and investing hours into getting just the right angle for a selfie? “Humans are generally insecure and like getting compliments. One can say that Instagram celebrities are an extension of this,” says actor and director Humayun Saeed whose online appearances are sporadic. “Getting compliments and ‘likes’ can be a boost for some actors, especially those who have just started off their careers.”

The older names are also around — Mikaal Zulfiqar, Adnan Siddiqui, Ahmed Butt and Imran Abbas, among them. Getting Instagram ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ is all-important and can rake in big money. A case in point: the auburn-haired, dimpled Momina Mustehsan who is at the very onset of her musical career but hasn’t churned out too much music thus far. While seasoned musicians may feel that Momina needs to work on her singing skills at this fledgling stage, she has adroitly been working on her social media PR and has amassed 1.5m followers. This online popularity asserts her standing as a youth icon and she’s been very visible on Coke Studio’s mainstream platform. She’s been taken on board by major soft drink and beauty brands and has also made it to the BBC’s 100 inspirational and innovative women’s list last year for having battled depression rather than for her singing career.

In contrast, the talented Aima Baig, another new female singer with far greater critical acclaim, has less than 400,000 followers. She’s quite fond of Instagram as well, but she’s yet to spiral to the heights that will identify her as an idol and entice corporate bigwigs to enlist her for endorsements.

The internet-savvy Hocane sisters — Urwa and Mawra — are two more examples. Both actresses started off their careers with TV dramas but have simultaneously built strong social media followings for themselves. They’re great at making ‘the duck face’, at propping an elbow out while wearing the latest designer wear, and at making sure that some unassuming soul is always around to click his or her camera at them. The umpteen images and videos of Urwa Hocane’s wedding to singer Farhan Saeed in 2016 went viral, inspiring millions of social media followers to define them as ‘couple goals’ or their wedding wear as ‘wardrobe goals’.

“The extent to which an individual chooses to use social media is a personal choice,” says actress Mahira Khan who has a huge following despite the fact that she is selective about the pictures she uploads of herself. “In the long run, though, nothing can trump talent and you have to prove your mettle with consistent, good work.”

Actor Adnan Siddiqui concurs. “It’s easy to become famous but to sustain it is very difficult,” he says. “Whatever isn’t real fizzles out and it’s better to use social media intelligently.” Adnan, incidentally, has a thriving Instagram account which he uses to purely showcase his work rather than what designer brand he’s wearing. He has lately been using his account quite adeptly to promote his upcoming production, a period drama called Ghughi.

Ultimately, it all boils down to marketing, as pointed out by Wajahat Rauf. “We’re working in show business and putting one’s persona out for show is normal,” he says.

Stars Not Actors

What’s the catch, then? “It’s all fluff,” declares singer Meesha Shafi. “As a creative person, I derive fulfillment from my work rather than how much visibility I have on the internet.”

Actor Ahad Raza Mir elaborates. “This constant need to post can make young actors get confused about what their role is,” he says. “Are we here to act or to promote our personal lives on the internet? We have ended up having more stars than actors. It’s a bit like being in a high school popularity contest where the ones with the largest number of followers will score roles in major projects and lucrative corporate endorsements.”

Actress Sajjal Aly adds: “I have seen so many deserving people get discouraged and let their careers fade out. Not every actress wants to wear anglicised designer wear and pose in it for the internet. Not everyone wants to constantly be fixated with their cellphone camera. Sometimes truly mediocre actors get roles while promising ones are left out. It makes me wonder what the point is in being committed to one’s craft and to work hard when others just manage to take the easy alternate route.”

According to director Nadeem Baig, actors sometimes get over-obsessed with their social media followings and start ignoring their work. “Just because they have millions of online followers they start to believe that they are stars and become incredibly difficult to work with. They’ll put on airs, make unfair demands and just make life miserable for everyone on set.”

But do producers of films and dramas actually hire actors on the basis of their Instagram followings? “Not really,” says Jerjees Seja, CEO of the ARY Digital Network. “The actor needs to be good and to suit the role. When a movie is about to release, we do create hype around it on social media. At that point, the followings of the movie’s cast can help in building up excitement. This is, however, just a value addition and is hardly the reason why we would select an actor for a role.”

“Social media helps but it doesn’t ensure a movie’s success in any way,” adds Humayun Saeed. “In recent times, we’ve seen movies being promoted extensively on the internet only for them to flop miserably. Over-promotion can take away the surprise element of a movie and no amount of pre-release hype can make a project a success if it lacks good content.”

A World of Fluff

Besides, in a world that glitters, what you see often isn’t what you get. It’s no secret that fake followers can be purchased on the internet, allowing an individual account to appear to have a following of millions. “Corporate sponsors hoping to zone in on social media influencers really need to wake up,” says actor and comedian Ahmed Butt. “So many people don’t have organic, real followings. Their posts don’t get any comments, indicating that the huge number of followers that they appear to have don’t really exist. People need to judge real talent and not something that is so transient and unreliable.”

Director Nabeel Qureshi recalls an instance when a filmmaker hired an actress based on her social media popularity. “He thought that her huge following would help in promoting the movie. But when she went to malls for pre-release rounds, people didn’t even recognise her. Those millions of supposed followers were all fake. Perhaps if one has to hire actors based on online personas, it’s wiser to take them out to a crowded restaurant before signing them on. That could be a good way to test if they truly are the real deal.”

“It is often an illusion,” agrees director Asim Raza, “But one has to remember that this form of self-promotion has always existed. Before the onslaught of the internet, actors would network at parties in order to socialise with the right people who would eventually give them jobs. Now, they also create social media personas of themselves in a bid to market themselves.”

Even when a celebrity may be genuinely popular on the internet, the path to Insta-fame can be a treacherous one. “In Pakistan, it is the easiest thing to become a star but it can also be the harshest country for a star,” says Atif Aslam. “We have seen social media be extremely cruel to popular celebrities, criticising them endlessly for something they wore or said or on any number of issues. It is better to use social media intelligently, to gain respect and to market your work.”

His words are echoed by Bilal Maqsood of Strings. “Every new phenomenon takes time to seep in and to be used for maximum benefits. When there was just radio and TV was introduced, radio stars felt that TV undermined true talent. Now, with social media having gathered pace over the last few years, many people are similarly disdainful about it. But it can be used in a good way, as a platform through which new stars can be discovered and promising careers can be built. It will take time.”

But will Insta-celebs truly evolve over time, setting aside the online fluff to move on to more cerebral territories? Or will they remain in their money-minting comfort zones, redefining celebrity culture in a world where pomp and ceremony is quickly replacing genuine content?

Published in Dawn, ICON, February 4th, 2018