With the rising trend of concerts in India, it has become a fad to strive hard to get expensive tickets and show off being at the concert on social media. However, most of the population in India either fail to book tickets due to massive online queue or cannot afford buying expensive tickets.
To avoid feeling left out and socially invaluable, an anonymous bunch of people have started what we can call, a mini-business 'Get Your Flex' where they create fake profiles and charge people for getting tagged in story of the person who is attending the concert. Only to create a fake image of you being at the concert venue and enjoying the show. Interesting and Disturbing, isn't it?
Bengaluru woman social experiments
Anushka Chhikara, a content creator from Bengaluru, recently shared her experience with a unique service called “Get Your Flex.” The service allows people to pay for being “tagged” in social media posts, giving the impression that they attended events like concerts, fancy restaurants, or aesthetic cafés. Chhikara described her experiment as both eye-opening and unsettling.
How 'Get Your Flex' function?
Tapping into the fear of missing out (FOMO), 'Get Your Flex' offers users the chance to appear at events they couldn’t attend in real life. Customers pay a fee to be tagged in photos or videos from specific events, which they can repost on their own social media accounts. The service operates through fake accounts with curated images, allowing users to choose tags from either a 'boy' or 'girl' account. Depending on the city, users can select content types, ranging from concert posts to shots of swanky restaurants.
Anushka's experience
Chhikara was impressed by how efficiently the service delivered her promised tag. However, one of her friends quickly realised the tag wasn’t authentic. “It got me thinking of something I read about how going forward, only the wealthier people will get to experience things in real life, and the poor people are going to be the ones who experience things digitally, at least for the sake of showing off,” she said.
Dystopian future?
The rise of such services highlights a troubling trend in how people interact with social media. Chhikara expressed concerns about the future, noting the growing divide between those who can afford real-life experiences and those who may rely on digital illusions. This mental mask people will live in can be harmful when reality overpowers. Depending on social validation for staying happy can severely affect an individual's mental health in ways unknown.
Despite acknowledging the dystopian undertones of this trend, Chhikara pointed out that there is significant demand for such services. “If people are willing to pay, there will always be someone ready to provide,” she said. As social media continues to mould modern culture, the popularity of “Get Your Flex” raises questions about authenticity and the lengths people will go to maintain their online image. You might never know what's real!
