Path to US via YouTube, Insta — How Indian influencers are fuelling ‘New American Dream’

As Sai Shethabhish Naidu Palla packed his hopes right into a suitcase to maneuver from Hyderabad to California, he knew he may depend on one particular person to assist him stateside — an influencer named Yudi J.

Similar to Palla, the American Dream remains to be alive for 1000’s of Indians. However the messenger has modified — it’s not tales from faraway family or Bollywood movies, social media influencers are those driving the ‘Let’s go to the US’ bandwagon.  Indian influencers like Yudi have inadvertently stepped into a spot they didn’t even realise existed and are creating content material centred round transferring and residing overseas in Western nations. From life-style to larger training to immigration recommendation, their content material is fuelling aspirations and expectations about residing out of the country.

“Based mostly on the feedback I obtain, my followers are positively within the form of life I reside in California,” mentioned influencer Aaliyah Kashyap. “Whether or not they discover it aspirational or not, I believe seeing an actual perspective of what life is like as an Indian overseas is attention-grabbing.”

The trail to the US as we speak is paved with uncertainty, cash and excessive expectations. Schooling and immigration companies — together with tales from the diaspora — are normally the primary introduction younger Indians should the logistical challenge of transferring and residing overseas. However now, social media content material is offering a concrete base for Indians to plan their journey abroad. Whether or not practical or aspirational, this content material has clearly struck a chord.

“Yudi gave me a blueprint on what my efforts ought to be like from beginning to finish,” mentioned 24-year-old Palla, who attended California State College and now works at Google within the Bay Space. “Watching his content material made me really feel assured and cozy.”

These influencers aren’t the primary of their variety to maneuver overseas, they’re simply the primary ones to doc and share it. Movies like ‘A day in my life in New York’ get 1000’s of views — it generates hope.

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Residing the American life 

When Aanchal Agrawal posted an Instagram reel saying that she’s lastly transferring to New York Metropolis to check, her DMs have been flooded by individuals saying that she’s residing their dream. “From girls caught in dangerous marriages to individuals who thought they have been too outdated for additional research, I bought so many messages,” mentioned Agrawal, an influencer who has practically 3 lakh followers on Instagram.

“I consciously needed to indicate individuals what life was like in New York,” she advised ThePrint. “I solely began my YouTube channel once I moved, and ever since I’ve come to New York I’ve recorded daily of my life. I believe it provides some worth as a result of it offers individuals an thought of what life is like right here,” she mentioned.

This was actually true for Palla as he consumed Yudi’s content material. “His content material was extraordinarily useful. He has movies explaining authorized stuff, has ideas on what to convey to the US, and offers recommendation on issues like learn how to file your taxes,” he mentioned.

Indian influencers and content material creators within the US have a tendency to the touch on totally different points resembling their life-style, larger training, and immigration recommendation. To not be confused with Indian American influencers, who occupy an area of their very own within the social media enviornment, they largely cater to an Indian viewers and curate content material to have interaction them. This consists of documenting typical experiences as a overseas pupil overseas, like finding the closest desi grocery retailer and attending cultural occasions organised by native desi organisations.

Influencers like Kashyap — who talks about packing packets of Haldiram’s aloo bhujia so she will be able to snack on it within the US — make life-style vlogs about her life as an Indian pupil within the US. With over 1 lakh followers on YouTube and a pair of.6 lakh followers on Instagram, the whole lot from her funds to her boyfriend (and her dad filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in New York) has a spot in her vlogs.

“Life within the US is unquestionably portrayed a sure method in tv and movies. I needed to reside that life too,” mentioned Kashyap. Moreover vlogging her every day life, she additionally creates branded content material — Kashyap works with worldwide manufacturers like Lounge and Style Nova, although over 65 per cent of her viewers is predicated in India.

In line with her, when she began her YouTube channel, there existed the stress to painting an ideal life — a life by which she labored out often, had a social life and ate wholesome. Now, nevertheless, she describes her content material as “extra actual”.

“Once I first began vlogging, I’d solely movie thrilling issues like a seaside day with my associates, or a weekend away. The movies I movie now are extra actual and mundane — I don’t need individuals to suppose that I don’t have boring days too,” mentioned Kashyap.

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The pull of upper research 

Portray an ideal image comes at a value, which influencers like Kashyap as we speak are consciously making an attempt to keep away from.

There’s no foolproof system for fulfillment within the US, which has a sophisticated immigration system that’s suspicious of Indian college students — a few of whom have resorted to fraud to remain within the US. Instructional consulting corporations don’t at all times make the method round going to school clear both. Whereas the method was by no means questioned earlier, there’s now a significant demand for a step-by-step plan for “making it.”

Influencers like musician Avanti Nagral occupy an vital intersection right here. As an American citizen who was raised in India, Nagral affords her practically 6 lakh (mixed throughout platforms) following extremely particular recommendation as somebody with one foot in each nations.

“There’s no entry to that form of data. And even whether it is, it’s from people who’ve solely lived within the US, so it’s not relatable. Translating that’s helpful,” she mentioned. Her training content material — which she creates alongside her music and her content material round intercourse training — consists of the whole lot from resume writing tricks to YouTube movies titled ‘India to USA: DON’T MAKE THESE MISTAKES!! | Suggestions from a Harvard grad’. She additionally makes it a degree to work together along with her followers and discuss larger training on all her platforms, and receives essentially the most engagement on her Discord server.

“The truth that I used to be capable of attend faculties overseas didn’t imply that I used to be smarter or extra hard-working than another person, it meant that I had extra publicity and entry to those alternatives,” Nagral, who attended Harvard College and the Berklee Faculty of Music, added. “And so it turned vital to me to bridge that hole.”

Schooling startups have additionally picked up on the potential of working with influencers. Leverage Edu, a startup that helps college students apply to universities overseas, works with round 1,500 influencers and content material creators, together with Nagral. They maintain digital college festivals on their platform UniConnect each week that a number of influencers typically promote.

“It’s nice as a result of it makes individuals conscious of latest and higher alternatives for his or her careers, a few borderless world, about our service that seeks to assist them change into international residents, however on the similar time it’s a double-edged sword,” mentioned Akshay Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of Leverage Edu. “There’s no regulation, so if we’ve a creator speaking about college X or alternative Y that doesn’t have credible analysis behind it or isn’t coming from a trusted model, then that might additionally damage college students,” he added.

In line with Chaturvedi, there are three primary varieties of people that apply to check overseas — these centered on universities’ reputations, these centered on the course of examine and, the most important set of individuals, those that need to transfer to a selected nation. Round 60 per cent of candidates normally belong to this final class.

The US has at all times been a vacation spot of alternative — however potential immigration points are inclined to discourage candidates. That’s the place influencers like Yudi are available.

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The accessible dream of immigrating 

In Yudi’s case, his drive to create content material got here partially from his personal must entry such data. His channel, which he began in 2018 and now has over 2 lakh subscribers, revolves across the achievability of the American Dream.

“I needed to encourage individuals with my story. I by no means imagined that I may very well be right here — I grew up in a Mumbai chawl and now I’m residing the life I dreamed of,” he advised ThePrint, including that he thinks his followers see his channel as being extra inspirational than informative.

“There’s positively an aspirational factor to this,” mentioned Viraj Sheth, who’s co-founder and CEO of Monk Leisure, a digital media firm that focuses on expertise administration, influencer advertising and marketing, and social media administration. Monk Leisure works with a number of Indian influencers who reside and work overseas.

“Influencers like Niharika NM, Ruhee Dasani and Aanchal Agrawal all function within the US although their main base is in India,” mentioned Sheth. “And it comes by means of of their content material, aesthetic, areas, numerous buddy teams, and the way they’re balancing their life…all this provides to their content material.”

However Sheth doesn’t suppose the pattern will stick round if influencers rely purely on their life overseas as a supply of content material. “It’s selecting up, nevertheless it’s not one thing somebody ought to base their content material round. In any other case, content material turns into repetitive.”

To keep away from repetition, Yudi has expanded his content material to transcend his personal experiences and infrequently interviews Indians exploring totally different sorts of profession trajectories within the US. He has detailed movies on learn how to apply for various sorts of visas, the form of preparation required earlier than job interviews and conversations with professionals highlighting other ways to strategy the job market of their sector.

“I bought fortunate whereas making use of for my H1B visa as a result of my office helped me. However there’s a number of misinformation and misconceptions, particularly from consultants in India. They don’t know what the bottom actuality is like right here, so I really feel like my content material fills that hole,” he mentioned. “Since I’ve gone by means of this course of, I used to be capable of make it easy for individuals and their mother and father to know it.”

Watching Indian content material creators navigate their life in America additionally helps Indian college students really feel a way of group, particularly in the event that they reside in small cities with out bigger desi populations. Yudi himself has interacted along with his followers, and has pushed throughout cities to assist somebody really feel much less remoted.

Yudi famous that he’s conscious his life comes throughout as extremely aspirational since he now has a profitable profession, is married to an American and not too long ago purchased his personal home. There’s additionally one thing about settling right into a overseas society nicely sufficient so far exterior your nationality or to have the ability to expertise totally different cultures that’s aspirational. However he says his story solely proves that if he can do it, so can others.

“My aim is to not get individuals to maneuver to America. I believe individuals can reside a superb life wherever they’re — so when I attempt to present them my life, I hope that they see the work I put in to construct the life I would like,” he mentioned. “I hope they see that hustle in me.”

“Once I create content material, I don’t need my followers to see me as a God. I would like them to see God in me,” he added.

Guides to the American Dream

Residing overseas? Examine. A high-paying dream job? Examine. A gaggle of enjoyable associates? Examine.

These elements — coupled with the promise of a piece visa or a inexperienced card — nonetheless kind the idea of the American Dream, even when the dreamers themselves have modified through the years.

“My dream was to have a superb job at a giant firm. I might say my transfer to the US paid off — all these basic items I used to be dreaming of have positively come true,” mentioned Palla, who moved to the US in 2019 and graduated in 2021.

For Srushti Hebbar, a New York Metropolis-based graphic designer, the definition of the American Dream has modified within the final six years she’s lived in New York. “It’s now about true freedom and having the ability to be your self with none judgment, demanding what you deserve, and simply so many issues I might by no means contemplate overtly discussing with associates or household again house,” mentioned Hebbar.

“In my early 20s, I used to be extra fascinated by the issues I didn’t have, and that appeared not possible to attain within the close to future — a glamorous life-style, luxurious holidays, wonderful vogue in cities like London, New York, and Paris,” she added. “None of this was relatable, nevertheless it’s who I aspired to be sometime. It was the life I needed and it was so engaging to me as a result of it appeared so unique.”

However now, as a 30-year-old with a job who can afford many of the materialistic issues she was fascinated with, she additionally appears for content material she will be able to relate to. The content material she consumes now revolves round relatable causes and actionable steps, like following influencers who discuss overtly about sexuality and trendy marriages, or making it large in any trade as an immigrant.

“I believe that content material might be aspirational, inspirational or relatable,” mentioned Nagral, including that content material that falls into a number of of those classes is normally what drives engagement. Right this moment’s viewers is more and more personality-driven and so authenticity virtually at all times wins.

It’s nonetheless a fragile stability that influencers should strike. Agrawal, who is aware of her present life as a graduate pupil in New York comes throughout as thrilling, shared that she was not too long ago feeling embarrassed about overtly speaking about her housing struggles on-line. However when she did publish concerning the issue of discovering a New York condominium, the floodgates opened and assist got here pouring in from native followers.

And the allure of residing in New York makes issues sweeter, particularly because it has helped her maintain her life there. “Because of the individuals who gave me the privilege of their consideration, I’ve been capable of proceed producing content material,” she mentioned. “I don’t really feel the stress to make relatable content material, however I do really feel that no matter I share on-line is one thing individuals search.”

“However content material is at all times a bit aspirational, don’t you suppose?” she added.

(Edited by Rachel John)