Being Paid to Live
By Vanshikaa Khandelwal
FY BSc. BATCH ‘27
Influencing has become quite a force to be reckoned with and we see influencers for every field today. The list is endless, but we will be focusing on the fascinating niche that is lifestyle influencing. Anyone who simply documents and posts their own daily life, or a part of it, counts as a lifestyle influencer. It could someone doing a “My Life as a Stay-At-Home Dad” video or a “Storytime GRWM” video (for those of you who are not chronically online, GRWM stands for Get Ready With Me) or giving us life hacks, or even just taking videos of themselves going on walks with their dog – these people are not doing anything extraordinary, they are just recording what they normally do, and that is what lifestyle influencers are.
They cater to a specific interest of their audience by posting distinguishing videos – only food recipes, or study routines, or someone’s “5-9” schedule after their “9-5” job. These influencers usually share their personal journeys and challenges as they go through their lives. Their main audience is obviously Gen Z and Millennials – the terminally online. Even if your screen time does not exceed 5 hours, you have probably seen their videos on your explore page on Instagram or YouTube, and there is just something about them that seems so appealing – the fact that they are original, candid, and relatable to us all. One either resonates with their story, laughs at their jokes, or simply just watches them make their dinner. They’ve even entered our parents’ lives too – my mother learned what a lifestyle influencer was when she saw Orry on Koffee with Karan say, “I’m a liver
Another reason that these influencers have a fan following, especially among younger viewers is that they appear to have a rather idealistic lifestyle, one too good to be true, and one that young users, still figuring out what to make of themselves, want to emulate. Their content usually centers about self-care, skin care routines, diet plans, social events, vacations and more – things that influence (for lack of a better word) their viewers into perceiving their lifestyle as a goal that they must achieve.
Influencers are known personalities, even being recognised by fans publicly. They are invited to premieres, restaurant openings, award shows and more – they are basically celebrities, but what differentiates them is their authenticity. It seems to garner loyalty and trust from their followers, and therefore the power of public opinion. For those of you who have watched Suits, you might remember an episode where a teenage influencer tries to sue Harvey’s client, a cosmetics company, for damaging her skin. He, naturally, does not want to take her seriously at all, but his client knows better saying that one bad review from the girls’ account to her 50 million followers would lead to all of them boycotting the company, to a loss of public opinion, and to avoid that she is ready to pay any settlement. For those of you who have not watched Suits, why. Thus, this makes influencers extremely formidable. They have the power to sway so many people, in favour of or against anything – be it a product, or a person. This is “Cancel Culture” – boycotting someone for their problematic actions or views. As terrifying as this is for businesses, it is also an opportunity – an influencer endorsing your brand transmits the trust they enjoy into your products. Lifestyle influencers possess an additional quality here, they can literally endorse anything – be it a coffee machine, skin care, a vacuum cleaner, or even hygiene products like toothbrushes and shower gels.
Now let’s get into the economics of it all – how exactly are these people being paid for doing normal day-to-day things? The answer is the very same endorsements above. Influencers are paid by companies to swear by the quality of products. They are paid a fixed marketing fee, a percentage of the increase in profits, or they might be allowed to give out discount codes, which if used, give a certain percentage of the transaction value to the influencers. Brands also often send them free packages of goods even without marketing contracts since they will post this and create, at the very least, a positive image of the brand.
Thus, by simply showcasing their living, they attract a following, which attracts brands, endorsements, and free packages. This leads to earnings and a better style of living, which leads to a greater following. They enter an ever-growing cycle of income and followers, by simply taking some time out of their day to record their day. Another peculiar thing that this leads to is that services of parents, like cooking, driving and tailoring clothes and others done out of love- are monetised. Bringing economics into this, we all know that GDP does not include these services, but they lead to increase in welfare. If they are monetised, they are included in the GDP to an extent, making it more accurate.
All this seems perfect, but there is a dark side. The power of public opinion is a double-edged sword. The very ‘Cancel Culture’ influencers create will affect them as well. They must constantly strive to be trendy and morally upright, else be “cancelled” and lose everything. Another thing that they must strive for is relatability. Their entire personal brand is built upon the people who identify with their lives and therefore want to keep watching them. If people can no longer relate, they won’t watch, and even worse, hate. Look at what happened in the early 2000s to Paris Hilton. People criticised her online and in tabloids incessantly. This stemmed directly from the recession faced after the financial crisis of 2008. People were struggling to make ends meet, so obviously they despised the privilege, money, and the fancy lifestyle she had, leading to her being an early victim of cancel culture.
This also shows us something important – to be a lifestyle influencer, you must already have money – you cannot have a luxurious life that others aspire for, if you can’t afford it. They promote materialism – designer clothes and shoes, extravagant vacations and more. The young audience who grows up idolising them builds up unrealistic expectations, assuming that if they too acquire likes and followers, their lives will become just as lavish. The movie Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (yes, the Ananya Pandey movie) shows how outrageous things become when people chase after likes. 
One thing I will say is that lifestyle influencers embrace themselves wholly, they show us their whole lives and open themselves up to our scrutiny – it inspires us to be our own quirky selves, no matter how plain and simple, or weird and quirky our daily routines may be. It requires a lot of tact and savvy to remain relevant – just look at Urfi Javed bringing out new, more bizarre outfits every week. Lifestyle influencers do have their work cut out for themselves in a way, since they must fight for our attention. Still, the economist in me is almost jealous. These influencers have managed to monetise the very basis of their being – their day-to-day lifestyles; not only do they get to earn and live at the same time, but they also get to enhance their lives into something more exorbitant.