ABP Rising Summit 2023: Influencers Ardhra Sajan, Deepika Venkatachalam, Chaithania Prakash Say 'Endorse Everything Responsibly'

The discussion highlighted how influencers should not only promote everything for money as their content "can easily influence" the masses and the government's regulation on celebrities and social media influencers.

Social media celebrity and model Chaithania Prakash on Thursday graced ABP Network's 'The Southern Rising Summit' in Chennai along with Ardhra Sajan and Deepika Venkatachalam. The three speakers are Internet celebrities with Prakash having two million followers on Instagram alone while Sajan is the country's first female fluteboxer and one of the first female beatboxers in Kerala. She is also a Guinness World Record holder. Meanwhile, Venkatachalam is a speech pathologist and an Internet celebrity with one million followers on Instagram.

The three young social media celebrities spoke on the topic "Social Media: Playground or Business School?" and the session was moderated by Ananta Natha Jha. The discussion highlighted how influencers should not only promote everything for money as their content "can easily influence" the masses and the government's regulation on celebrities and social media influencers.

There are several ingredients that make for a successful content creator, with consistency being the top one, said Sajan. "Consistency is very important, whether it is Instagram or YouTube or any other kind of platform. Relevancy is also very important, and also what we share with the audience," she noted.

She went on to share how a fairness cream brand being endorsed on social media was causing kidney problems to users. "We, as influencers, should make sure whatever we endorse is authentic and good for our followers."     

Prakash expressed her displeasure over the promotion of "betting apps" by social media influencers. "Don't promote betting apps. Influencers, please be careful. Other people's lives are being affected and there are many bad examples," Prakash added.

When asked about the percentage of influencers that would not blindly endorse or promote just `anything online, Sajan replied: "Initially, we were not aware of 'unfair' endorsement but gradually, when our followers increased, it brought a sense of responsibility. It became really important as to whatever content we create or promote a product, it should be useful for our audience and not mislead them."

"I would not know of the usual industry practices and would endorse whatever I was given, but I learned and stopped. That also invited a lot of negative comments too," Sajan said.

Venkatachalam, on the other hand, said she believed the social media frenzy is going to increase with time. "We did not have such a vast pool of influencers two years back. We are looking for short content and short videos. As long as digital content exists, influencers are going to grow."

Asked about the government's decision to introduce guidelines for social media influencers and celebrities, Prakash candidly said that she can't comment much as her agency manages everything for her.