Top 5 Social Media Influencers You Must Follow

It is often said that you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. Now, 50 years ago that statement was probably true. Without getting into the accuracy of that statement, let’s talk about how the same theory isn’t really valid in today's times. 

Back in the day, if you admired someone / were their fan, you would at the most see them in newspapers and magazines. You wouldn’t be able to know what they’re doing at every moment of their life. 

Today however, with the advent of the Internet & Social Media, we can easily follow any person that we admire or look upto just by the click of a button. The average time spent by a person on social media was estimated to be 2 hours and 24 minutes in 2019, and that number has only increased ever since, especially after the coronavirus pandemic brought the whole world to a standstill. Having said that, it would be fair to assume that we are not only like people we spend most of our time with but also like those who we follow the most on social media. And I believe that that’s a fair estimation to make considering the amount of time we spend on our phones just scrolling through our Instagram feeds. 

So, If we’re picky about the people we become friends with, then why not be picky about the kind of people we follow on Instagram! The kind of people you choose to follow really impacts your thoughts and your behaviour without you even realising it. So, if we follow the right kind of people, imagine the amount of value it can add to our lives!

Having said all this, here’s my list of the Top 5 Social Media Influencers a millennial like you and me should follow without a doubt!

1. BeerBiceps - The first influencer I’d like to talk about is Mr. BeerBiceps aka Ranveer Allahabadia (actual name). He started out as a Fitness Youtuber making content about diets, workouts, etc. But as the years went by, he slowly arrayed into the world of fashion, self care, and self growth / development content. Today, he not only talks about Fitness, Lifestyle and Self growth, but he also has his own podcast called The Ranveer Show where he talks about a wide range of topics from Education to Yoga to Spirituality to Business to Indian History/Culture, and this list could go on and on. He invites experts in their respective fields to come and discuss these topics with him and share their knowledge with the audience. He is one of the biggest names in the YouTube world today, and his audience is only going to grow more and more and that’s why he is the first influencer I’d recommend you to follow. He also runs his own businesses along with his business partner Viraj Sheth who also happens to be his manager. Their primary business is a Talent Management company called Monk Entertainment where they acquire and manage new talents from Youtube/Instagram and other such platforms. In my opinion there isn’t any other content creator making more holistic and value adding content than Ranveer. So, I’d say that if you had to binge watch something during this lockdown, my top recommendation would be The Ranveer Show, which is his podcast. It’s available on Youtube as well as on Spotify. You can also find him on Instagram where he shares written content pieces such as stories and lessons through posts.

Click here to check out BeerBiceps' YouTube channel

Click here to check out BeerBiceps' Instagram account

2. Tanmay Bhat - The second influencer I’d like to talk about is popular Stand Up comedian, writer, and most famously known as the co-founder of AIB, Mr. Tanmay Bhat. He made a name for himself in the Entertainment space after joining hands with Rohan Joshi, Gursimran Khamba & Ashish Shakya to form AIB through which they pretty much ran the YouTube/Comedy scene in Mumbai (and all over India) from 2013 till about 2015 (post which other creators also joined in). Today, Tanmay Bhat runs his own YouTube channel where he primarily produces gaming content. However Tanmay has always actively made content which is value adding and always has something which you can learn from, even during his AIB days. He recently started another channel for his podcasts called ‘Honestly by Tanmay Bhat’. On this channel he talks about a plethora of topics through different podcast series ranging from Finance to Science and to simply fun and unfiltered conversations. Now, there are a few reasons as to why I’d recommend you to follow him. The first is that Tanmay has a very likeable personality. Having a natural knack to make people laugh, he can make anything entertaining. Without diving too much into his AIB days, my second reason would be that he uses his ability to speak and converse to his advantage by creating content that is not only entertaining and fun to watch but also value adding and fruitful. So, sometimes when you need to watch something light hearted and funny, you can watch his videos, and at the same time learn a thing or two out of them as well! And, just like The Ranveer Show, his podcasts are a treat to watch. Thus if i had to recommend the second best thing to binge watch, it would be Tanmay Bhat’s podcasts.

Click here to check out Tanmay Bhatt's YouTube channel

Click here to check out Honestly by Tanmay Bhat

3. Sadhguru - Where do I even begin about Sadhguru. There is so much to learn from this man. I consider him to be one of my Gurus. Sadhguru is a Yogi from the Southern part of India who started the Isha Foundation which is a non-profit organisation which conducts programs on Yoga & Spirituality. The reason I look upto to Sadhguru is because there’s something that’s different about him from the other ‘preachers’ or ‘Gurus’. He never imposes his teaching’s on anyone and nor does he expect anyone to blindly follow what he says. He simply tells you to experience everything on your own, and I think that is what separates him from the rest! Because he also practices what he preaches himself. He encourages people to live life to the fullest, and to be the only factor responsible in being joyful. And through his programs on Yoga & Spirituality, this is exactly what he teaches you to do. Following a personality like him will truly help you enhance your experience of life and will help realise what a blessing life really is! If you are looking to dive deeper into what life is really about and want to do some soul searching, I’d highly recommend you follow Sadhguru and have a look at the programs the Isha Foundation offers. Even if you don’t have an inclination towards Yoga or Spirituality, but just want some life advice, check out Sadhguru’s Youtube channel! It has an archive of videos on the same.

Click here to check out Sadhguru's website

Click here to check out Sadhguru's YouTube channel

Click here to check out Sadhguru's Instagram account

4. FitTuber - Fourthly, I’d like to talk about this Youtuber known as FitTuber. His real name is Vivek Mittal and he runs a Health and Fitness channel where he talks about these topics from an Indian perspective and shares Ayurvedic remedies/diets that one can follow to lead a healthy lifestyle. The reason I’d recommend you to follow him is that the knowledge he shares is very unique. There aren’t many content creators that are putting out the kind of information that he is. Thus, instead of following lifestyle/fitness influencers from the west, I realised that it is far more beneficial for me to follow an Indian influencer because the information that he puts out is directly relevant to the society we live in. Not saying that all the content creators from the west don’t put out helpful content, but I’ve realised that following someone who is from the same culture as you makes a huge difference. I also believe that Ayurveda is an age old scientific practice and the lifestyle/dietary habits that it recommends are the best kind to follow. And this is my opinion because I’ve consciously tried to follow the way of living Ayurveda recommends and it has had a largely positive impact on my day to day productivity and overall health, and isn’t that what we all want at the end of the day? Watch his videos and try the Ayurvedic lifestyle yourself, and you will see similar benefits if done correctly with consistency!

Click here to check out FitTuber's YouTube channel

 

5. YesTheory - "In the summer of 2015, four strangers met in Montreal, Canada. Ammar from Egypt, Thomas from France, Matt from the US and Derin from Turkey. Together, we bonded over the idea that life is best lived outside of your comfort zone. So with a total of $500 to our name, we moved into our friend’s 1 bedroom apartment and started making videos attacking some of our biggest fears and seeking discomfort. Since then we’ve had a show on Snapchat Discover, moved to Los Angeles, and had countless life altering experiences and new incredible friendships along the way." (Excerpts taken directly from their official website www.yestheory.com).

The last creators I want to tell you about is this group called YesTheory whose story you just read. Today they run a YouTube channel under the same name where their motto is to ‘Seek Discomfort’ and to say yes to crazy life experiences which we would normally say no to. Their message in a way encapsulates the one motto that everyone should follow and that is to keep seeking discomfort! Because growth and learning only happens when you’re uncomfortable, and so in a way this tells you to keep learning and allowing growth to happen because there’s no end to what you can learn. The only thing you have to have is the willingness to do so. Now, I’m not trying to preach anything here because I’m just as young as you probably are, but all I’m saying is that it is 100% true, that there is no end to what we can learn. The only thing is that it is upto us how we choose to live. Do we choose to live as learners or as knowers?

Click here to check out YesTheory's YouTube channel

Click here to check out YesTheory's Instagram account

On that note, I hope that you do check out all of these influencers! Following them has really added a lot of value to my life, so I’m sure that it will add value to yours too!

- Anvay Dixit (Team SYNC Snippets)