When the second COVID wave hit, we saw multiple posts on social media admonishing travel bloggers (& other kinds of influencers) for blogging & posting while the country was going through a catastrophe. The blogging/ influencing/ vlogging community was called ‘heartless’ & ‘selfish’.

Now, we are not influencers by any stretch of imagination, nor do we blog/ post on an everyday basis. But we found it odd that people were quick to belittle & chide without even asking why the person was doing what s/ he was.

1. People have different coping mechanisms for crisis situations. A few find solace in getting support, a few try to solve the problem, a few take to physical activity amongst others. There are maladaptive coping mechanisms too, but we will not get into those.

Similarly, for a few people, a way to cope could be sticking to their routine. Doing the familiar is the hardest thing to do when the environment is so unfamiliar. If the influencers did not judge you on taking up meditation, why did you condemn them for following their routine?

• Even in the middle of the COVID calamity, work went on. Those who could work logged in diligently at 9 AM, worked through the day & logged out when their work finished. We are not speaking about the healthcare & administrative sectors.

People worked because that is what brings their salaries. Similarly, bloggers/ influencers earn from their blogs/ social media. It is their WORK! Is it because it is in the public eye that it is deemed unimportant? Or is it because it appears frivolous?

Many of the content creators out there put in more hard work than we have seen office – goers put in. Fashion or photography or styling is anything but frivolous. So, if you did not rebuke the office – goers for continuing their work, why did you reprimand the bloggers/ influencers?

• Travel was impossible during the second wave. So was going out to eat or party or shop. News added to the already depressing situation. People found respite from the negativity by reading travel blogs, looking at images of beautiful locales, and watching travel videos.

With your judgement, you robbed people of this brief relief.

“Be curious, not judgmental”

Walt Whitman

To the bloggers/ influencers/ vloggers, I hope this criticism & warning did not affect your mental health. In our case, while N swung into action providing relief, P coped by providing moral support to those affected. However, both benefited by sticking to their routine of WORK.

We thank the content creation community for continuing to create happy, meaningful content. Your content may not have changed the world, but it brought relief to at least one person. That is enough, is it not?