With an overdose of celebrity photos and videos on social media, is the fatigue factor setting in? We find out...
Radhika Bhirani (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 10, 2020)

Are you with Farah Khan, Rohit Shetty, Diljit Dosanjh when they say “Bas karo yeh workout, cooking videos” or you’re like, ‘yeh dil maange more’? Cooking, exercising, cleaning, reading, sleeping — by now we’ve seen celebs doing all that and more.

Recently, tennis star Sania Mirza asked, “Aren’t we done with posting cooking videos and food pictures yet? Just spare a thought — there are hundreds of thousands of people... starving to death.” Earlier, Khan posted a video ruing that “there are bigger problems to focus on” while Shetty took a jibe at those showing their “cooking skills”.

While that’s one way to look at it, there are also those for whom social media is a creative outlet to feed into the demands of their fans.

Fitness enthusiast Mandira Bedi said, “Some people are peeved about workouts from home being posted, but I’m going to keep posting mine.”

Even Kishwer Merchantt, wrote, “...I made this only coz I have been getting DMs asking me to make one. (sic)”

Meanwhile, Dia Mirza has a balanced approach. She says, “Some days, I feel like we’re witnessing The Truman Show. But I guess everyone has their way of managing this time.”

Yami Gautam adds in agreement, “Everyone has their way of being themselves, and have their own coping mechanisms.”

Digital teams of actors seem to be working overtime to ensure the content keeps trickling in. There are live chat sessions, recipe sharing, masterclasses, musical snippets etc being shared.

Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships, Facebook India, confirms, “There’s been a rise in the number of IG (Instagram) Lives, with views increasing by more than 60 per cent from the past week.”

Digital media and marketing entrepreneur Sagar Madhani says, “This phase is the most insightful as celebs are actually enjoying a real connection with fans”, while digital and experiential marketing expert Udit Bhatia opines, “Celebs are taking this time to focus on spreading positivity, which in the long run helps build their credibility.”