<p>Social media influencers, who typically use their popularity to plug products, services and experiences, are under pressure to take political positions.</p>.<p>Travel blogger Ankita Kumar, known as @monkey.inc, says the trend is recent. “Up until late last year, people were okay with influencers sticking to their niche.”</p>.<p>Once the Citizenship Amendment Act debate came up, she began actively posting about politics. “It felt like I had a responsibility,” she says.</p>.<p>She started getting death and rape threats when she protested against the ruling party’s line. “It took some time for me to adjust to it, but blocking those who send these threats has helped,” she says.</p>.<p>Lifestyle blogger Deena Pinto aka @skinnygirldiariez says lifestyle, fashion and makeup bloggers, especially women, tend to get pigeonholed, and considered incapable of holding informed political opinions.</p>.<p>“When I talk about the economy or policy, there are always many people who say ‘What do you know? Stick to lifestyle’. I have a degree in finance and when I tell them that, they usually stop,” she says.</p>.<p>On the other hand, there are times when followers urge influencers to speak up. “I remember during the Kerala floods, I had posted a fitness video on Instagram and someone asked how I could post such things when my home state was flooded,” says fitness blogger Karthika Anand, @kartasian on Instagram.</p>.<p>Karthika wants to stick to her expertise, and sees no point in ‘mindlessly’ sharing posts. “It takes time and effort to read up. If I am passionate about an issue, I will read up and talk about it,” she says.</p>.<p>Deena adds that being well-read is important, and not just to make sure the information you’re putting out is accurate. “More often that not, I find myself having to defend and debate my position and to do that, I need to be informed on all aspects of an issue,” she explains.</p>.<p>Ankita believes being apolitical is not an option anymore. “Everything is political. I can’t say I’m happy in my niche as a travel blogger. Travel is political. So being silent on these matters is not the way to go,” she explains.</p>.<p>Deena agrees, but understands why people shy away from it. “For most of us, our social media platforms are our sources of income. Our follower counts and brand deals play a large part of that. We tend to lose out on both when our content becomes increasingly political,” she says.</p>.<p>She tries to combat this by making political content that matches the brand image she has created for herself. “I realised that posting news stories causes more people to get riled up. So I post meme-like content that still conveys the core idea,” she explains.</p>.<p>Deena admits politics takes a backseat when her regular workload increases. And Ankita doesn’t want politics to take over her content.</p>.<p>“I will talk about current events but I will pick and choose my battles. At the end of the day, I’m a travel blogger not a news agency,” she concludes.</p>
<p>Social media influencers, who typically use their popularity to plug products, services and experiences, are under pressure to take political positions.</p>.<p>Travel blogger Ankita Kumar, known as @monkey.inc, says the trend is recent. “Up until late last year, people were okay with influencers sticking to their niche.”</p>.<p>Once the Citizenship Amendment Act debate came up, she began actively posting about politics. “It felt like I had a responsibility,” she says.</p>.<p>She started getting death and rape threats when she protested against the ruling party’s line. “It took some time for me to adjust to it, but blocking those who send these threats has helped,” she says.</p>.<p>Lifestyle blogger Deena Pinto aka @skinnygirldiariez says lifestyle, fashion and makeup bloggers, especially women, tend to get pigeonholed, and considered incapable of holding informed political opinions.</p>.<p>“When I talk about the economy or policy, there are always many people who say ‘What do you know? Stick to lifestyle’. I have a degree in finance and when I tell them that, they usually stop,” she says.</p>.<p>On the other hand, there are times when followers urge influencers to speak up. “I remember during the Kerala floods, I had posted a fitness video on Instagram and someone asked how I could post such things when my home state was flooded,” says fitness blogger Karthika Anand, @kartasian on Instagram.</p>.<p>Karthika wants to stick to her expertise, and sees no point in ‘mindlessly’ sharing posts. “It takes time and effort to read up. If I am passionate about an issue, I will read up and talk about it,” she says.</p>.<p>Deena adds that being well-read is important, and not just to make sure the information you’re putting out is accurate. “More often that not, I find myself having to defend and debate my position and to do that, I need to be informed on all aspects of an issue,” she explains.</p>.<p>Ankita believes being apolitical is not an option anymore. “Everything is political. I can’t say I’m happy in my niche as a travel blogger. Travel is political. So being silent on these matters is not the way to go,” she explains.</p>.<p>Deena agrees, but understands why people shy away from it. “For most of us, our social media platforms are our sources of income. Our follower counts and brand deals play a large part of that. We tend to lose out on both when our content becomes increasingly political,” she says.</p>.<p>She tries to combat this by making political content that matches the brand image she has created for herself. “I realised that posting news stories causes more people to get riled up. So I post meme-like content that still conveys the core idea,” she explains.</p>.<p>Deena admits politics takes a backseat when her regular workload increases. And Ankita doesn’t want politics to take over her content.</p>.<p>“I will talk about current events but I will pick and choose my battles. At the end of the day, I’m a travel blogger not a news agency,” she concludes.</p>
