Influencers using social media for good

Ever since the second wave of Covid-19 hit India social media has become a great tool for many to ask for help and amplify their needs.

With common citizens stepping in to help on the ground, or by using social media to forward requests, verify claims, put together contacts to help people, Indian influencers are also doing their bit. In April, an Indian influencer managing firm, OpraahFx ran a donation drive and raised close to $83000. The funds raised by activity have been handed over to Hemkunt Foundation which is helping Covid-19 patients with oxygen supply in the country. 

The firm tied up with Youtubers and hosted a Youtube Live stream where more than 35 influencers and gamers participated. The stream lasted for about seven hours. The livestream received over 10 million views During the livestream, the influencers played video games, interacted with the viewers and talked about the pandemic, creating awareness about Covid-19.

Commenting on the initiative, OpraahFx founder Pranav Panpalia said, “Delighted to see such an overwhelming response from the audiences and influencers alike. Having hosted India’s biggest live stream with 35+ creators and raised INR 50L+ from a single live stream, we have created a historical donation drive in the country. Observing the healthcare emergency with the very large demand for necessary and medical resources in the country since the last few weeks, we decided to partner with Slayy Point and Mythpat do what we are great at – influencing people, for the right cause.  The influencers included well known Indian comedians, video game players.

One of the participating influencers, YouTuber, Slayy Point said, “It is a moment of pride for all of us to successfully run this donation drive for oxygen supply in the country. With our partnership with Hemkunt Foundation, we aim to reach the ones in the need and be able to help them with as much as we can. We are extremely happy and thankful to our YouTube and creator community for coming together for this cause. It is unbelievable that the influencer media has so much power, a channel like mine with only 4M subscribers had this much impact! It is interesting to see that the community which is often discarded and not given enough credit or respect can come together to literally create magic and save lives. We believe that when we are in this together, we need to fight it together, and that is only possible with the combined efforts of the influencers and the public at large. So, thank you to everyone who made this possible.” 

Influencers’ marketing has seen a boom since the pandemic. According to Forbes, the influencer industry did well even during Covid-19 and more brands are relying on the social media stars for growth and marketing.