CSH’s associate researcher, Aasim Khan, an assistant professor at the Department of Global Studies (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals), with Sabah Maharaj. Ashutosh Kumar and Piyush Kumar co-published an article entitled “Networks of Influence: Instagram and Digital Entrepreneurship in Two Regional Contexts in India.” in Oxford Intersections: Social Media in Society and Culture, edited by M. Laeeq Khan.

The article is available at: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/60551/chapter-abstract/523643678?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Abstract: Conventional theories of digital entrepreneurship suggest a linear path to disruption, with platform work allowing independent content creators to start businesses through brand collaborations. However, the absence of formal institutional support and platforms’ dominance in determining the demand and supply in the content market also mean that while digital platforms attract young content creators, and turn them into ‘influencers’ as they are popularly known, the opportunity comes with a high level of uncertainty in terms of sustaining their work and scaling it into a successful enterprise. This article evaluates the appeal of Instagram’s Reels platform among small content creators in two regions in India and considers the trajectories of media entrepreneurship, along with the role played by social support networks. Using a comparative framework based on extensive fieldwork in two regional capitals—located in the northern and southern parts of India—the article tracks diverse patterns of social networking, leading to distinct outcomes in terms of creators’ ability to start as well as sustain media production work. In Hyderabad, a buzzing IT capital in the Deccan region, the article finds that informal networks allow for easy entry, but the informality also creates difficulties in sustainability for those lacking a solid economic base. In contrast, in Lucknow, a clear aesthetic vision tied to regional cultural and historical legacy becomes a crucial mediating factor in enabling a more sustainable model for digital entrepreneurship.