India, Mumbai: In the newest episode of The Varun Duggi Show - now streaming on Spotify, Gaana and JioSaavn, Vishnu Kaushal talks about his experience as a digital content creator and staying authentic alongside discussing digital detox and style in an engaging conversation with host Varun Duggirala.
Varun observed how social media affects people overall and asked if living life in “public view” affects Vishnu. He replied, “I was reading The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. I think there was a quote in the book - ‘I am not who I think I am, I am not who you think I am, I am what I think you think I am.’ And social media, sort of, exacerbates that idea.”
He added, “The whole idea is a new thing, and I don’t think we emphasize that enough.” ... “And there are incredibly intelligent people who are manipulating this... I am not pursuing happiness; I am pursuing the ‘happiness’ that they told me is the ‘happiness.’ Like, followers. Money is the only thing that has been the same.”
The conversation takes an interesting turn as both Vishnu and Varun deep-dive into a discussion about authenticity as a creator. Vishnu said, “Content creation is one aspect of your life. It’s not your life. To be authentic doesn’t mean to create authentic content. Creating authentic content is a byproduct of being authentic in your life. And you do that by staying true to your values. And I am still figuring out my values because your values change as you grow up. And it’s okay to change. The idea is to be open to change. Today, you’re authentic - in five years, you’ve experienced so much - if you stay the ‘authentic’ you were five years ago, you’re not authentic. Because you haven’t added in the growth and evolved.”
To which, Varun responded, “How to stay authentic is an often conversation I have with myself because, at most times, you also don’t know what is authentically you... The fact about authenticity is this: what you are authentically today - not when you started or when you were younger - you also evolved. If you don’t evolve, then what’s the point?”
Highlights:
Digital detox
In 2018, there was this idea doing the rounds called ‘social media detox.’ I was just fascinated by the idea of not using social media for the first time in my life. And the month I took off, the very next video that I made went viral on YouTube, and I made another part of it, which also went viral. The process of making it was so pure for some reason - I can’t formulate it. There is no formula behind it. The content was coming to me. I wasn’t searching, “Oh, viral video hai.” I feel that decluttering your mind is so important for a creator specifically.”
Talking about style without being pretentious
The second I post anything on that account (@vishnutoo), I feel so happy. Because I don’t check notifications on that, I don’t reply to comments on that. Sometimes, I do when something is very cute, but I don’t take the pressure - I don't owe it to anyone on that Instagram. That is my space... It’s just my expression of who I am. I don’t take the pressure of clicking pictures... because I am not a fashion - I am not even trying to tell you that this is what you should wear. I am just sharing what I wore today.
Varun Duggirala - Podcaster, Content Creator, Entrepreneur