Power of social media
Access to social media now has reached to the billions of users worldwide. There are millions of videos and pictures uploaded to the internet every day, but it takes something truly remarkable to go viral. In times of shortened public memory, the power of social media is highly impactful, as it helps individuals in gaining fame, success as well as in building a strong public image. A strategic social media engagement and marketing is recognised as a sure way to achieving the success.
On the other hand, many ordinary people have become viral internet sensations, thanks to the power of social media. And all it took was their talent or something catchy and relatable to the wider audience. We can see people who were not known to world have reached fame overnight due to re-posting, sharing, and liking on social media. The interesting part of social media is that it can make anyone superstar in a night. Social media today has the utmost power to make anyone a celebrity.
Social media success stories
There are many self-made social media influencers who rose to riches from obscurity to stardom with the power of social media.
Elvish (Siddharth) Yadav: A 26-year-old Elvish Yadav is an Indian YouTuber, Vlogger, Social Media Influencer, and singer from Haryana, India. His impact was such that he managed not just one, but two successful YouTube channels—’Elvish Yadav’ and ‘Elvish Yadav Vlogs’—with 14.8 million and 7.65 million subscribers respectively. He gained mainstream fame when he entered the Indian Reality TV Big boss as a wild card entry and won the Big Boss trophy in 2023. Social media was drowned in celebrating his win, he became a celebrity on social media. Further, Elvish was welcomed and awarded by the Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar post Big Boss win.
Carry Minati: Carry Minati (real name Ajey Nagar) became famous as a YouTuber primarily due to his engaging and entertaining commentary on gaming, and later, a variety of other internet culture topics. A boy from Faridabad, Haryana became famous youtuber and internet sensation at very young age. His unique and relatable content is trendy and went viral. He made social media as his full-time career. And now with over 40 million subscribers as of August 2023, he became the most-subscribed individual YouTuber in Asia.
Sanjeev Shrivastava-Dancing Uncle: In 2018, a 50-year-old uncle wowed everyone with his dance moves and became famous almost immediately. Uncle, who is also a die-hard fan of actor Govinda, was seen dancing to Govinda’s chartbuster song in theviral dancing video from a wedding. After that, he was dubbed “Dancing Uncle.”He became so famous that he was invited on Indian reality TV show with actor Govinda.
Inspiring social media journeys.
There are many entrepreneurs who have used social media to their advantages through effective social media marketing and influence.
Praful Billore aka MBA Chaiwala: At the young age of 27, he carved out a niche for himself that most dream of doing. He built a around Rs 4 crore tea empire that continues to grow under his leadership. Mr. Prafull Billore, the man behind the hugely successful brand MBA Chaiwala. Social media played a crucial role in boosting his business. Prafull maintained an active social media presence to connect with customers, and his Valentine’s Day marketing strategy of giving free tea to singles went viral and attracted numerous clients. This tenacious young entrepreneur is a strong presence on social media and an avid YouTuber. Many YouTubers put up videos of him further helping him reach a larger base.
Ankit Baiyanpuria: A social media influencer hails from Sonipat, Haryana. He is an Indian fitness influencer and personal trainer who became famous for promotion of desi style workouts on the internet. In 2023, he attempted the 75 Hard challenge. Ankit gained popularity for his workout videos at public places in Rishikesh and Sukhna lake in Chandigarh in which he also showed public reactions. He gained millions of followers in 2023 on YouTube and Instagram. He has worked as a confectioner and labourer at a local factory, Zomato and Supplement Store. Ankit gained fame and success through his social media engagement and marketing of a unique fitness regime. He appealed to the masses by introducing the traditional Indian workout routines and veg diet. He become so famous that he has met with PM Modi, he is also appeared in a music video along with Elvish Yadav.
Ashneer Grover: Is an Indian Businessman who has started BharatPe an UPI app for digital money transactions. Indian business tycoon, Ashneer Grover, the former co-founder and managing director (MD) of the Indian fintech company BharatPe. He rose to fame after he became judge and one of the investors at Shark Tank first season, Indian reality TV show. Interestingly, his clips from the show went viral on social media platforms. His personality and business approach caught attention of the many youngsters and wannabe entrepreneurs.
Kanta Prasad-Baba ka Dhaba: Kanta Prasad AKA Baba is another one of the many Indian internet sensations that went viral almost overnight. He owns a small dhaba in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, broke many hearts with his interview with food blogger Gaurav Wasan. This interview was shared by actress Sonam Kapoor and many other celebrities, and it received over 50 million views on Facebook and 30 million views on Instagram. This is when Baba Ka Dhaba gained popularity; thousands of people came to the small dhaba after seeing the video and offered financial assistance to Kanta Prasad. On the basis of that, he built a restaurant.
Famous Spiritual gurus on social media
Not only social media has made commoners famous but there is a dominant presence of spiritual gurus and their messages online. In recent years the celebrity endorsed spiritual gurus have gained fame or have resurfaced strongly online.
Dhirendra Krishna Shastri aka Bageshwar Dham Sarkar
The 27-year-old chief priest of Bageshwar Dham temple from Madhya Pradesh (MP) has become a TV and social media sensation with the power of social media. His followers include some powerful government ministers and politicians. His social media following has risen rapidly to reach 7.5 million- with 3.4 million followers on Facebook, 7.1 million YouTube subscribers, 943 K followers on Instagram and 186.7 K on Twitter. Some of his most popular videos have been watched between three and 10 million times.
Premanand Maharaj
Anirudh Kumar Pandey aka Premanand Maharaj hailed from Kanpur and residing in Vrindavan. A video of his is going viral on the internet, in which Virat Kohli along with his wife Anushka Sharma and daughter is seen taking blessings from Premanand Ji Maharaj. This news made Premanand Maharaj an internet sensation and his ashram saw a surge in visitors.
Neem Karoli baba
It is not that the Neem Karoli baba was not known or famous earlier. He was known for being the spiritual master of a number of Americans who travelled to India in the 1960s and 70s. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Julia Roberts also paid a visit to Baba Neem Karoli ashram. Julia Roberts is also said to be influenced by Neem Karoli Baba and was drawn to Hinduism because of him. Recently his name resurfaced on all the social media platforms and news after Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma along with their daughter visited Neem Karoli baba’s ashram Kaichi Dham, Uttarakhand.
Regaining fame through the power of social media
Bobby Deol: Bobby Deol’s Iranian entry song from 2023 movie Animal is going viral on social media platforms. More than 4 million reels have been created by the fans and his shots from the movie are also going viral by the ‘Lord Bobby’ name. The famous/infamous Deol son has seen ups and downs in the Bollywood industry. It is fascinating to see how social media has made him famous more than the protagonist (Ranbeer Kapoor) of the film itself. His popularity on social media has risen overnight, his profile has hit millions in just one week after the movie’s release.
Along with inspirational and light-hearted content, cringe content also gets viral on social media. Many celebrities also seem to be vibing on viral cringe content, mostly for the promotional reasons. There is not any secret in becoming internet sensations. There are billions of influencers and talented people who share their content on social media. Nevertheless, there are certain algorithms and planning that must be followed if you want to become viral content creator.
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