Social Media Debt: Borrowing for the 'Gram

Desperate to look cool, young Indians are taking loans to fund a lifestyle curated for social media

- Shadma Shaikh

Recently, a marketing professional from Bengaluru was trying to buy a ticket to the Diljit Dosanjh concert. The young woman, who does not want her identity to be revealed, was eyeing a ₹3,000 ticket, but those sold out in minutes. Without batting an eyelid, she booked one in the ₹15,000 VIP section using her credit card.

The 23-year-old admits that she paid almost as much as her monthly rent, but believes her Instagram post on the show will make it all worthwhile. A quick scroll through the woman's account reveals carefully crafted and aesthetically pleasing posts: Prada sunglasses make a regular appearance; other shots include impeccably tailored outfits that scream luxury and a New Year's getaway in Thailand. It's clear that maintaining this image is a priority for her, even if it means regularly ending the month broke or in debt.

While she wishes to be more disciplined with her payments—this year alone, she's been hit with late payment fees twice by her credit card company—and more pragmatic in her purchases, she keeps succumbing to impulse shopping urges. "Like it or not, social media is the real deal for me and everyone in my social circle," says the Bathinda native, who moved to Bengaluru for work a year ago.

The young woman's story, while troubling, is not uncommon. It reflects the rise of 'social media debt'. Driven by the pressure to project a cool image online, young Indians are increasingly taking loans or using credit cards to fund a lifestyle curated for social media. From luxury vacations to pre-wedding shoots done solely for Instagram, youngsters chasing online validation are stuck in a dangerous cycle of hyper-consumerism fuelled by debt.

Shrishti Arora is another case in point. Between her friends and the influencers she follows on Instagram, Arora, a copywriter from Bengaluru, feels a compulsive need to follow a certain lifestyle.