Driven by FOMO, people are now willing to dish out money to make it look like they attended a concert or went on a romantic getaway
Rishabh Jain, 21, a student preparing for his civil services exams, recently found himself indulging in a peculiar trend — purchasing fake social media tags. For a trip to Manali and a café date in Ahmedabad, he spent Rs 399 and Rs 120 respectively. “For Manali, I picked scenic views from samples they sent me. I even scheduled the time the posts should go live,” he says. The café tag came from a fabricated female account. For Jain (name changed), it’s about visibility. “People get impressed. They react to your stories, say hi, or check on you. You have to do hawa baazi (show off) on social media. Otherwise, who’s going to remember you exist or bother to call or text?”