When an influencer writes a book

Ria Chopra started her instagram account at age 14, she is 26-27 now. Pic/X/@riachops

It seems that author, influencer, digital creator, journalist, etc, Ria Chopra started her Instagram account at age 14. Now, if she is around 26-27 now, that means she has spent her young adult life on the Internet. And that means she may have experience in writing about what she has felt, and processed in those 10-12 years. Though I, now 44, having spent the last 10 years on Instagram, may not want to read about it.

And that's what I would tell everyone trying to rip apart her book, Never Logged Out, on X. In a piece written by herself on online platform Nod, the strap reads, "In her new book, ‘Never Logged Out', the eternally online Ria Chopra argues how curation and curiosity-driven creators are helping Gen Z find meaning in a world of unlimited information". What I have deduced after flipping through Chopra's book, and through information given by my Gen Z colleagues, is that the book talks about how their generation deals with life, as they are constantly online. This includes how they fall in love, how they dress, shop, and also how impacted they are by everything they see online.

Okay, cool, cool, cool. But why should then I, a geriatric millennial, read it? It's obviously directed at Gen Z, or maybe some marketing or advertising dude wanting to know how the kids tick, so as to sell them more stuff. So when I see people trashing her book, and accusing her of plagiarism, on X, I feel like saying: Why are you reading her anyway? And what did you expect?

One Tweet says: "Sorry you got a book being published by Bloomsbury purely because of your follow count even though you have no radical analysis to offer to the world and you are cribbing about people on the Internet being mean? Lol, grifting is really an art." Now grifting, says the Internet itself, means, "engage in petty or small-scale swindling". Ouch. To this tweet, I would just say, there is nothing new in people getting work thanks to their follower count. Being an influencer is just that. So, why are we surprised that they are now writing books? Prajakta Koli, who doesn't even have Chopra's background, now has a book that has officially become HarperCollins highest-selling fiction title of 2025. And it's pretty unreadable for me. But then, I have been reading since I was 5, so I am more discerning than Koli's 8.8 million followers, so it really doesn't matter. Just like Chopra, who has 93k followers, and even if half of those bought her book, well, Bloomsbury didn't do that bad. Thanks to all those followers, Chopra also got face time with Amitabh Bachchan on KBC 16. Now that's not bad!

Another Tweet says: "The whole piece reeks of the insufferable inferiority complex that Gen Z is plagued with but projects on the world. And no, analysis of international policy through K-pop metaphors isn't intelligence." Yes, it is not, at least not to me and this Tweeter. But, again, who cares? Certainly not the insufferable Gen Z. They are ready to write more, curate more and dissect a world they know better than us because they were born into it.

I want us to all relax. It's 2026, and books are written by influencers - Gen Z or not. And if we don't want to read those books, or we think they s''k, we shouldn't read them. We should stick to our Amitav Ghosh or Haruki Murakami (whose last book was pretty atrocious, and I am a die-hard fan), or Arundhati Roy, or any other age-appropriate author. We should read people who are relevant to us, what stage of life we are in, and give us food for thought. We should stick to authors who never, ever would let their writing be an extension of their online personas. But then, where would many of us be?

I am not being Miss Goody Two Shoes here. Just yesterday, I got a rejection letter for a book pitch I was passionate about. And so I am pretty raw and salty right now. But I have recently also learned the fine art of accepting reality for what it is, and doing the best we can anyway. The less we resist, the more we float? Or as Murakami said it best: Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Let Chopra have her day in the sun, and we can just read something else. What do you say?

See you next time.

Ranting and raving about all that's trending on social media, Aastha Atray Banan is an author, creator, podcaster, and the Editor of your favourite weekend read, Sunday mid-day. She posts at @aasthaatray on Instagram.
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