Actor Jaaved Jaaferi was seen in the OTT show ‘The Tribe’ alongside his daughter, Alaviaa Jaaferi. During the show, he made fun of his daughter’s profile as a social media influencer with a large following on Instagram. In a recent interview, Jaaved shared his thoughts on the growing culture of social media influencers and their content. He referred to Mahatma Gandhi as the real influencer while commenting on recent trends.
In a conversation with Humans of Bombay, Jaaved clarified that his comments on The Tribe were intended to be “tongue-in-cheek.” However, he expressed deep concerns about the current state of social media and the type of content that often gains popularity. He showed empathy towards individuals from small villages who use social media as a platform to seek validation and escape their challenging lives, recognising their need for acknowledgement and a sense of purpose.

Jaaved didn’t hold back when criticising the repetitive nature of influencer content. He pointed out how recurring trends like outfit changes and lip-syncing dominate the feed and urged creators to produce something more authentic. He highlighted how the endless stream of mediocre content is leading society towards embracing mediocrity. According to him, the content is hypnotising consumers and turning them into addicts. He even labelled the content as pure nonsense.He believes that true influence lies in shaping lives and inspiring change. “What is an influencer? An influencer is someone like Gandhi, who inspires you to do certain things in your life,” he asserted. While he acknowledged that actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan can set trends, he argued that real influencers are figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, who left lasting impacts on society. He concluded by criticising the frivolous use of the term “influencer” in today’s digital age.