Authenticity was once a quiet virtue; something that was supposed to be lived instead of displayed. Now-a-days, it has become a performance, carefully curated to gather traffic online. In the age of influencer culture, being ‘real’ has been distanced from honesty or vulnerability, instead it has moved towards appearing ‘reletable’ in ways that have potential to be monetised.
What began as Ordinary people sharing small fragments of their lives with the world on social media has now evolved into a highly professionalised industry. The ‘Influencer’ does not merely exist online but they perform their existence. Every supposed candid moment is framed, every confession timed and every flaw revealed strategically. Authenticity has now become a brand.
Through this article, I do not want to undermine the challenges faced by influencers or dismiss the labour that sustains their work. Rather, I aim to disillusion audiences who may follow or believe online figures without sufficient awareness of the systems shaping what they see.
The Rise Of Relatability as Capital
The modern influencer thrives on controlled imperfection. Messy rooms, mental health break-downs, ‘no-makeup’ videos and behind the scenes struggles presented as proof of their ‘authenticity’. Yet these moments are rarely spontaneous. they are curated, scripted, edited and optimised for the most online traffic.
Here, rlatability becomes a currency; the influencer who seems the most relatable, the more trustworthy they seem, and the more persuasive their endorsements become. vulnerability has been strategised; it is no longer private or personal.
When Real Life is Used as a Product
The problem with such performative authenticity is not dishonesty; it is exhaustion. Constant mining of personal lives that can be used for content, blurring the line between oneself and the personalality one has created as a public spectacle. Relationships, Grief, healing, at times even their identity become marketable arcs in an ongoing narrative.
For audiences, this creates a distorted mirror. We coonsume curated vulnerability and mistake it for reality. Ordinary lives can start to feel insufficient in comparison. This is not because influencers are extraordinary but rather due to their professionally created authenticity.
The Illusion of Closeness
Influencer cluture feeds off of the illusion of closeness, of familiarity and care. Followers feels like they know the person behind the screen.Yet, this familiarity is one-sided. What is shared is just what performs well online, what is not revealed is invisible to the online audience. The algorithm rewards consistency, not complexity.
This imbalance raises ethical questions. When trust is built through perceived authenticity, audiences become more susceptible to subtle manipulation—especially in advertising, political messaging, or lifestyle advice. The influencer does not just recommend products; they shape aspirations, values, and self-worth.
Authenticity in the Indian Digital Landscape
In India, influencer culture has grown rapidly across languages and regions, blending aspiration with accessibility. The “local” influencer—speaking in familiar accents, navigating recognizable struggles—often feels more convincing than celebrity figures. Yet the same pressures apply. Sponsored authenticity still serves commercial interests, even when wrapped in cultural familiarity.
What emerges is a digital space where sincerity is indistinguishable from strategy.
Reclaiming Authenticity
The crisis is not that influencers are inauthentic, but that authenticity itself has been redefined. When every emotion must be shared, explained, and aestheticized, silence and privacy begin to look like failures rather than choices.
Perhaps authenticity cannot survive constant visibility. Perhaps it requires spaces that are unrecorded, unmonetized, and unseen.
In questioning influencer culture, we are not merely critiquing individuals—we are confronting a system that rewards performance over presence. Until authenticity is freed from the need to be witnessed, it will remain not a truth, but a role we learn to play
