A creator’s fluent English, a swirl of opinions around urban cues and a rural backdrop—an unlikely mix that has set the internet abuzz. It centres on West Bengal’s East Midnapore-based Pujarini Pradhan (@lifeofpujaa), whose videos span cinema, culture, feminism and cooking. Critics questioned her authenticity, pointing to a perceived mismatch between her content and background. But if anything, the row has turned the spotlight back on creators from small towns and villages—those who had dominated social media during the TikTok era with their raw, regional appeal.

Beyond one creator, the episode offers cues on the highs and lows of virality in the creator economy, especially in the hinterland.

When Musical.ly rebranded as TikTok in 2018, its easy-to-use format and viral stories of creators lip-syncing and dancing drew millions into content creation. Regular challenges and trends amplified the ‘fomo’—fear of missing out. TikTok soon broadened access to social media, levelling the playing field and enabling creators from diverse backgrounds, including tier-2, -3 and -4 cities, to go viral, earn not just eyeballs but livelihoods as influencers. As per reports, before the ban, TikTok had 200 million users in India.

Then came India's ban in 2020, citing the app’s Chinese origins as a national security threat. Users were left scrambling for alternatives amid a wave of newly-minted creators. YouTube and Instagram, cashed in, releasing short-format features within a couple of months of the ban, offering alternative platforms.

The shift wasn't easy. “After the ban, we moved to a local app called Snack Video, but even that got banned in two months. We then shifted to stable platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, but it was difficult to navigate," said Sanatan Mahato, a martial artist-turned-dancer from Kusmatand village near Dhanbad in Jharkhand, who gained popularity for his dance videos with his sister, Savitri Devi. "We didn’t understand the interface, the algorithm. Everyone was racing to claim the top spots on these new apps... It never matched the craze and simplicity of TikTok, even though we retained our followers.”

Mahato has 20.6 lakh subscribers on his YouTube account Dancer Sanatan and 11 lakh on Instagram. Mahato never earned from content on any of these apps, as he was unsure of the proposing brands' authenticity, so he turned them down to focus on growing his audience, he said. Mahato only got popularity from TikTok. “People still recognize us as the dancing siblings TikTok, even though now I make vlogs with my wife on other platforms. Tiktok gave us the fame and recognition we are still known for,” Mahato said. His sister, now married and living in Maharashtra, separately creates videos with her family.

The alternatives

Content apps such as Moj and ShareChat, popular in tier-2 and -3 cities and towns, stepped in to absorb stranded TikTok stars at the time. They offered stable income through a short-form format akin to TikTok, while others experimented with revenues and brand deals.

“What we offered by launching Moj wasn’t a replacement, it was continuity. While several platforms that rushed in to fill that void have since shut shop or shrunk considerably, we have stayed the course,” said Ankush Sachdeva, chief executive officer and co-founder of short video platforms ShareChat, Moj and Quick TV. “Influencers who were barely earning anything before June 2020, now take home an average of ₹25,000 a month. More established creators are receiving 6-7 brand campaigns regularly, translating into upwards of ₹50,000 in monthly earnings,” he added.

Some creators chose to ditch short-form content and started creating long-form YouTube videos to skip the cut-throat competition. “When TikTok got banned, most creators were looking for an easy transition into a similar short-form apps like MX Takatak and Moj. Even YouTube and Instagram introduced the short-format feature soon after. However, we decided to get into long-format content on YouTube,” said Jaipur-based creator Suraj Pal Singh, who posts vlogs with his partner Yashi Tank on a joint account @suyashvlogs that has 73.5 lakh subscribers.

“The transition wasn’t easy because it was a more time-consuming process, especially when it came to editing. In the first six months, we only managed to put out one video per week," Singh said. "But after a few of them started going viral and we got the hang of it, we started posting daily and even advertisement revenues kicked in by then.”

YouTube pays creators ad revenue based on ads viewed during video watch-time across users and devices—a key supplement to the brand promotion income they heavily rely on. Singh noted that brands initially prioritized Instagram promotions before expanding to YouTube, forcing creators into a balancing act: producing YouTube content while also staying active on Instagram with short-form to avoid missing revenue opportunities.

Uncertainty factor

Amid this intense competition, some known names from the Tiktok era simply vanished. Karnal-based men’s lifestyle creator Karanjeet Singh Kaler, who once raked in millions of views on Tiktok and has over 3.5 lakh followers on Instagram, is one of them. Though he initially got quite a few brand deals from companies such as perfume brand Denver, watchmaker Sylvi and apparel company Rare Rabbit, the creator economy is notorious for unpredictable incomes. “Once I got married, I moved out of content creation for a more stable and regular income, and joined my family business,” Kaler said.

Agencies, which play a bridge between creators and brands, saw this from a bird's eye view. “About 70% of creators lost livelihoods after TikTok, as they were highly dependent on the app, where they had built communities of millions of followers in five years, but they were unable to transition to other platforms,” said Gautam Madhavan, founder of Xley Ai, a creator marketplace.

“Even today, when the current creator economy is sitting at almost 60 lakh creators, the agency ecosystem is unable to scale and give business to all of them, and only about 5,000 of them get regular brand deals,” he added.

A creator’s fluent English, a swirl of opinions around urban cues and a rural backdrop—an unlikely mix that has set the internet abuzz. It centres on West Bengal’s East Midnapore-based Pujarini Pradhan (@lifeofpujaa), whose videos span cinema, culture, feminism and cooking. Critics questioned her authenticity, pointing to a perceived mismatch between her content and background. But if anything, the row has turned the spotlight back on creators from small towns and villages—those who had dominated social media during the TikTok era with their raw, regional appeal.

Beyond one creator, the episode offers cues on the highs and lows of virality in the creator economy, especially in the hinterland.

When Musical.ly rebranded as TikTok in 2018, its easy-to-use format and viral stories of creators lip-syncing and dancing drew millions into content creation. Regular challenges and trends amplified the ‘fomo’—fear of missing out. TikTok soon broadened access to social media, levelling the playing field and enabling creators from diverse backgrounds, including tier-2, -3 and -4 cities, to go viral, earn not just eyeballs but livelihoods as influencers. As per reports, before the ban, TikTok had 200 million users in India.

Then came India's ban in 2020, citing the app’s Chinese origins as a national security threat. Users were left scrambling for alternatives amid a wave of newly-minted creators. YouTube and Instagram, cashed in, releasing short-format features within a couple of months of the ban, offering alternative platforms.

The shift wasn't easy. “After the ban, we moved to a local app called Snack Video, but even that got banned in two months. We then shifted to stable platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, but it was difficult to navigate," said Sanatan Mahato, a martial artist-turned-dancer from Kusmatand village near Dhanbad in Jharkhand, who gained popularity for his dance videos with his sister, Savitri Devi. "We didn’t understand the interface, the algorithm. Everyone was racing to claim the top spots on these new apps... It never matched the craze and simplicity of TikTok, even though we retained our followers.”

Mahato has 20.6 lakh subscribers on his YouTube account Dancer Sanatan and 11 lakh on Instagram. Mahato never earned from content on any of these apps, as he was unsure of the proposing brands' authenticity, so he turned them down to focus on growing his audience, he said. Mahato only got popularity from TikTok. “People still recognize us as the dancing siblings TikTok, even though now I make vlogs with my wife on other platforms. Tiktok gave us the fame and recognition we are still known for,” Mahato said. His sister, now married and living in Maharashtra, separately creates videos with her family.

The alternatives

Content apps such as Moj and ShareChat, popular in tier-2 and -3 cities and towns, stepped in to absorb stranded TikTok stars at the time. They offered stable income through a short-form format akin to TikTok, while others experimented with revenues and brand deals.

“What we offered by launching Moj wasn’t a replacement, it was continuity. While several platforms that rushed in to fill that void have since shut shop or shrunk considerably, we have stayed the course,” said Ankush Sachdeva, chief executive officer and co-founder of short video platforms ShareChat, Moj and Quick TV. “Influencers who were barely earning anything before June 2020, now take home an average of ₹25,000 a month. More established creators are receiving 6-7 brand campaigns regularly, translating into upwards of ₹50,000 in monthly earnings,” he added.

Some creators chose to ditch short-form content and started creating long-form YouTube videos to skip the cut-throat competition. “When TikTok got banned, most creators were looking for an easy transition into a similar short-form apps like MX Takatak and Moj. Even YouTube and Instagram introduced the short-format feature soon after. However, we decided to get into long-format content on YouTube,” said Jaipur-based creator Suraj Pal Singh, who posts vlogs with his partner Yashi Tank on a joint account @suyashvlogs that has 73.5 lakh subscribers.

“The transition wasn’t easy because it was a more time-consuming process, especially when it came to editing. In the first six months, we only managed to put out one video per week," Singh said. "But after a few of them started going viral and we got the hang of it, we started posting daily and even advertisement revenues kicked in by then.”

YouTube pays creators ad revenue based on ads viewed during video watch-time across users and devices—a key supplement to the brand promotion income they heavily rely on. Singh noted that brands initially prioritized Instagram promotions before expanding to YouTube, forcing creators into a balancing act: producing YouTube content while also staying active on Instagram with short-form to avoid missing revenue opportunities.

Uncertainty factor

Amid this intense competition, some known names from the Tiktok era simply vanished. Karnal-based men’s lifestyle creator Karanjeet Singh Kaler, who once raked in millions of views on Tiktok and has over 3.5 lakh followers on Instagram, is one of them. Though he initially got quite a few brand deals from companies such as perfume brand Denver, watchmaker Sylvi and apparel company Rare Rabbit, the creator economy is notorious for unpredictable incomes. “Once I got married, I moved out of content creation for a more stable and regular income, and joined my family business,” Kaler said.

Agencies, which play a bridge between creators and brands, saw this from a bird's eye view. “About 70% of creators lost livelihoods after TikTok, as they were highly dependent on the app, where they had built communities of millions of followers in five years, but they were unable to transition to other platforms,” said Gautam Madhavan, founder of Xley Ai, a creator marketplace.

“Even today, when the current creator economy is sitting at almost 60 lakh creators, the agency ecosystem is unable to scale and give business to all of them, and only about 5,000 of them get regular brand deals,” he added.