When everything on social media can be classified as content, does the popularity of Puneet Superstar surprise us?
What it takes to make a highly engaging content on Instagram? We have come to accept the fact that we don’t know how a piece of content gets popular. Puneet Superstar is being talked about for his unique content and that makes us wonder, what it takes to be popular on social media?
What combination of actions brought you to read this piece? Was it the algorithm, trends or your frustration over how everything can be called content these days. Take a look at your Instagram feed and try to figure out why it all ended up specifically on your explore page. I’m not against the exposure and opportunities social media brings for people but why is my feed all about food edits, GWRM, ASMR video and why do they make me want to keep scrolling for hours?
How content creation became a thing?
There were days when expressing, creating and sharing was only limited to a smaller group of elites but the vastness of the internet sure revolutionized the way people think, create and express. One of the first forms of digital content included blogs that became really popular around 1999 when publishing sites like LiveJournal came into picture. In 2002, LinkedIn was launched and became popular for providing professionals a platform to connect and communicate. Then we saw the launch of platforms that were more into informal conversations like MySpace and Facebook. The real revolution of content creation happened when YouTube was launched and became the first to offer monetary benefits to creators through its monetisation policy. People could make their own content and share it somewhere where people can watch it and it all felt liberating as now, expressing ideas wasn’t limited to ones who are privileged with the resources. Then we saw the rise of TikTok and the culture of short video content it brought. It gave everyone a chance to become a creator and in the process, bridged many social and economic gaps.YouTube is known for its long content format and thus, posting content on YouTube often takes more time, resources and planning. Comparatively, the effort you need to put to post a short form content is less most of the time. The popularity of social form content was so overwhelming that no social media platform could ignore the possibilities with it and the same thing goes for Instagram. A platform made for picture sharing is doing everything else. TikTok gave rise to influencer culture in India and now almost everyone wants to do it.
How is the popularity of content determined?
Scroll through Instagram Reels and see the content that is there. Ask yourself, if you needed or wanted to see this. You saw the like count and views and can’t figure out why this piece of content has this much engagement? We usually don’t get to see much engagement on well researched pieces while more frivolous and superficial content, such as “Get ready with me” videos, gains overwhelming popularity You must have seen fashion and beauty influencers taking the center stage on big events while we don’t get to see many creators do that from the niches that are not glamorized enough. While I have no hate against the influencer culture, this disparity undermines the value of diligent research, creativity, and meaningful contributions, creating a sense of disappointment among those who strive to present something truly worthwhile to the online community.
Why is Puneet Superstar so popular?
Back to the question of Why Puneet Superstar has the popularity he has. Puneet Superstar’s content includes, screaming challenges, bathing in mud, smearing toothpaste on face, his “Kothi Bangle” and “Nalle Barozgaar Chhapri” Jokes and the list goes on. While we find him making the best out of his crazy ideas, we cannot understand why are we watching it? Recently, Lord Puneet was seen in Big Boss OTT as a contestant. Surprisingly he was eliminated within a day but the hype he created was here to stay. Social media was flooded with comments and posts supporting the savagery of Puneet Superstar as he showed confidence in himself. Why a well-known show starts another segment for OTT and calls social media influencers as contestants?
People have started to root more for social media influencers than Bollywood celebrities. To some extent, we see ourselves in these people and we find them relatable. You must have seen those reels where people from rural areas are making short skits and people do watch and share such content. Anyone from any background can create something and share which has bridged a social and economic gap for so many. A few years back, some content creators normalized the use of cuss-words in comedy and how people liked the idea of it confuses us. Nowadays, a genre of content that people like to call “cringe” or “cliche” has taken over. Such trends bring us back to the same question, “what can be classified as content on social media?”
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