Hit the like button or not

Manpriya Singh

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As rapper Badshah is accused of buying 7.2 crore views for Rs72 lakh, the question is not whether he is “the bad boy Shah” in real, but the concern is that the followers on social media can actually be bought. Can views be faked? Singer Mika minced no words in a satirical post when he said, “I have heard many actors and singers buy fake views on YouTube and some buy followers and views on Instagram as well…I’m so stupid I bought more than 50 houses and always invested in properties, gave my 10 per cent to the charities. If I had also bought views and followers, “toh mere bhi record hote. Haye main sabse peeche reh gaya.”

Pressure to get likes

While the level of pressure to make, break or set new records depends from person to person, there is no getting away from the fact that, “It’s still important to post on a regular basis since that’s the requirement to keep the account ‘alive’,” says social media influencer Radhika Bangia. Currently clocking in a neat 1.3 million followers on Instagram, she admits to being in a phase, when she was focused on “likes, comments and views. Then I realised how toxic that behaviour can be at a personal level, besides it doesn’t really matter because it’s the content that eventually wins.” She adds that, “At a technical level, marketing agencies and brands have ways of figuring out whether or not the followers of an account are real. This practice is common in the USA.”

Singer, performer and influencer Nikhil Paralikar, popularly known as The Tabla Guy, points out, “It is really easy to figure out how genuine the 100 million views are, depending on the content. It is important to see the overall engagement of the video, the comments on it and the number of times it has been shared. The ratio of number of comments to views should be balanced to justify the views.” What was a one-odd unfortunate aberration is an industry alternative now, he agrees to all creators at some point being approached for fake likes, followers and subscribers.

“You also get a verification tag for a given cost. To be honest, it can be very tempting,” adds Nikhil, who feels it’s not a number game, eventually. “How much you fetch after crossing a million subscribers, again it doesn’t depend on the number of subscribers. It’s entirely a game of genuine average views on that particular channel, and if you are talking numbers here, then it is around 1 lakh-1.25 lakh per post.”

Chips in Radhika, “There are so many metrics that these platforms provide when it comes to followers such as location, income level, age, etc…. Cosmetic brands too tend to pay based on the percentage of female followers. The CPM (cost per mille) can vary depending on the location. For instance, CPM for US audience can be more than 10 times greater than for Bangladesh.”

Clichéd as it may sound, the quantity doesn’t really matter. “Unless you want to break records of a certain number of views in 24 hours, that will neither dictate the shelf life of a song nor its appeal in the long run,” says a singer, who chooses not to be named, adding that, “I fell for such scam marketing for promoting one of my songs. Other than the display picture boasting of 100 million likes, it does nothing to ensure that a song is actually entrenched in the memory of listeners.”

That sums it up.

What’s virtual is in fact not real?

When 200 million views for a Punjabi song become an industry standard, maybe even the benchmark for getting concerts, endorsements and the right attention, the temptation to take short cuts can be immense. Many fall prey, some don’t. The numbers ensure what’s trending. This partly explains Pooja Bhatt recently thanking people for even the dislikes pouring in for Sadak 2 trailer. “Gotta hand it to both for giving us their valuable time and making sure we are trending.”

Actor, singer, music director Gurdeep Mehndi laughs off the number game. “If you have checked, I have a comparatively small number of followers, but then, they are all genuine fans who are deeply engaged. I carry the legacy of my father Daler Mehndi, so taking short cuts hasn’t been an option. It also depends on the level of mental satisfaction, whether you are pursuing music passionately for the long haul or whether to be an overnight sensation.” He also doesn’t forget to take us on the other side of the fence. “Why just celebs, actually it is the mediators between artistes and the companies who should be equally blamed. Whenever a new single or video is about to drop off, they are the ones saying, “‘Bhaji inne likes and views taan chahide ne, nahi te gal nahi banni. Baaki ki kehnge’.

Is it any wonder that several artistes succumb out of pressure and fear?” If not the adulation, then, well, get me the attention.