India — the land of colors, spices, and now… clickbait for international influencers.
Over the past few years, a peculiar phenomenon has taken over TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn: foreigners faking a love affair with India to farm massive engagement. And it’s working brilliantly — for them.
🎶 Dance to Desi Beats, Collect Desi Likes
Scroll through TikTok or Instagram Reels and you’ll find European, American, or East Asian dancers energetically lip-syncing or performing half-baked choreography to Bollywood hits. The formula? Post a few videos dancing to trending Indian songs → get picked up by Indian algorithms → watch the follower count explode.
🍛 Food & Travel: The Tourist-Turned-Content Creator
Suddenly, every foreign backpacker is a food vlogger. From “OMG I tried pani puri 😱” to “Kerala is the most beautiful place on Earth” — it’s a rinse-and-repeat recipe. The hook? Dramatize spice levels, shoot a few cows on the street, or do a reaction video to local street food — instant viral potential.
👔 LinkedIn’s New Playbook: Praise India, Build Credibility
It’s not just social media influencers. Corporate professionals on LinkedIn are cashing in too. Posts praising Indian founders, “incredible Indian engineers,” or stories of “moving to Bangalore to build my dream” flood feeds — carefully optimized for likes from India’s massive, English-speaking professional base.
📍 Region-Specific Clout Farming
Some have taken it a step further: regional praise targeting states with the highest internet penetration.
- Praising Kerala’s education or calling it “God’s Own Country” for maximum shares from Malayalis.
- Romanticizing Bihari resilience or cultural richness for engagement from India’s second-largest Hindi-speaking state.
Because where there’s 5G and a billion+ people online, there’s a market for vanity metrics.
💡 Why This Works
- India has the largest number of active social media users in the world.
- Platforms like Instagram and YouTube prioritize engagement; Indian netizens are generous with likes, comments, and shares — especially when they see foreigners celebrating India.
- Algorithms reward this spike, propelling content to a global audience.
🤔 The Problem? It’s Hollow.
It’s not real love for India. It’s algorithmic exploitation. Many of these creators move on to the next region once engagement wanes. The narrative leaves behind stereotypes and shallow takes on Indian culture.
As India’s digital ecosystem matures, it’s time to differentiate authentic appreciation from engineered engagement. Our stories, traditions, and identity deserve better than being used as a shortcut to influencer fame.
🔥 Final Thought:
The next time you see a foreigner praising India online, look beyond the headline — and ask: Is this heartfelt admiration or a viral strategy?