S S Irfan

Idrees Mir is a lifestyle vlogger from Baramulla. He is among the fastest growing YouTubers in Kashmir. Idrees holds postgraduate degree in Mass Communication and New Media. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D from NIMS University, Jaipur. Idrees also started first ever Kashmir based photo stock agency, which he later stopped owing to frequent internet shutdowns. In this Sunday interview, Rising Kashmir chats with Mir to understand his passion, and the future of vlogging in Kashmir.

Q. How did you come up with the idea of doing vlogs?

A. In 2018, while I was pursuing my Masters, I started a YouTube channel to upload my poetry. But later I shifted into vlogging since I had interest in it from the beginning. I chose lifestyle-vlogging which is a new concept in Kashmir. It is basically a digital representation of vlogger’s daily activities and interests. One needs to have a face value in lifestyle-vlogging, so I started reaction videos, Q&A videos, fitness vlogs that helped to increase my popularity.”

Q. Who is your main audience?

A. Currently, I have a subscriber base in thousands across different media platforms, and my target audience is based abroad as well. The audience on Facebook is different as compared to YouTube. Facebook audience in Kashmir is yet to understand the concept of lifestyle-vlogging. It may take some time for them to completely understand this concept.

Q. As a media student, how did you decide to chose to tread this path instead of working in mainstream media?

A. I have worked with many local as well as national media organizations, but chose to work independently rather than under somebody’s supervision. As a student of journalism I believe that it should not only be confined to hard news only, skies should be the limits. I wanted to be in journalism through new media that’s why I chose vlogging. YouTube and Facebook are growing in Kashmir and it has a bright future. As you can see, the YouTubers across India and world are earning huge amount of money through this means. Everything is converging nowadays to social media creating immense opportunity for newcomers.

Q. Tell us how you started?

A. I started from scrap. I had no expensive setup, because if you are determined then you don’t need to have heavy setups, even a smartphone can work. It took me a lot of time and patience but I was committed. Once I realized I had been accepted by my audience then I upgraded my recording gadgets.

Q. Has vlogging been financially sustainable to you?

A. I presently earn a handsome amount of money through my YouTube and Facebook pages.

Q. How do you see the future of vlogging in Kashmir?

A. I want to emphasize on the importance of collaboration for Kashmiri You Tubers. The Kashmiri YouTubers should shun their personal biases and hate for each other. There is lack of professionalism in Kashmiri YouTube community resulting in their less growth. As a community we need to collaborate with each other which will add to our growth. I would love to see fan fests, celebrations among our YouTubers that is only possible when we come together. Our unity is a good thing for newcomers.

Q. Does lack of proper internet services affect your work?

A. The low-speed internet is acting as an obstacle between the YouTubers and audience in Kashmir. The audience receives compressed version of our videos even if it was uploaded in HD format. The audience tends to skip the content if it buffers due to speed issues, and ultimately its we who are at the receiving end. I would suggest to those who want to join YouTube that start it as a part time. Everyday thousands of people join it but only a handful succeeds. One should have the quality of content. It requires a lot of patience and hard work. You should not worry about your subscribers, views or monetization in initial stage. Keep creating good content regularly and success will definitely chase you.

Q. Besides vlogging, how do you spend your time?

A. I manage my academics and YouTube very well and there is no overload or burden as things are going smoothly. Photography is my favorite pastime. I occasionally contribute my photography work to Getty Images, Firstpost, Istock. Renowned photographer Showkat Nanda has been my mentor in storytelling photography.