Behind the glittering façade of Dubai’s influencer scene lies a world where diamonds don’t exactly sparkle.
While social media feeds boast flawless selfies, perfect transitions, designer PR packages, and occasionally disclosed sponsored posts, the untold stories from those hustling in the city’s influencer industry aren’t as pretty as you’d think.
In exclusive interviews with women of varying nationalities and areas of influence (names changed, because duh), we delve into the murky underbelly of this picture-perfect world and reveal some uncomfortable truths.
From PR agencies demanding a cut from influencers’ earnings (!) to the ruthless pressure to get invited to parties and events at any cost, this is the life of influencers in Dubai, unfiltered and unapologetic.
Burnout on ~No~ Budget
While we may not see it, influencers pay a price, often with their mental health. In fact, one might say the influencer starter pack comes with a side of anxiety, stress, and self-doubt. Sienna, a fashion influencer, shares her exhausting experience with the barter collab culture.
“Brands don’t realise that creating content, filming, editing, scripting, and choosing the right music or captions, can take up to three hours per video. I accept these barter deals because if I don’t, I won’t get invited to events or receive new product launches, which are essential for keeping my followers informed. At the end of the day, while the products may be worth Dhs1000, they don’t pay my bills.”
“Being a content creator has taken a serious toll on my mental health. Brands expect high-quality videos with engagement and views but don’t always acknowledge the creative effort and headspace required to produce great content.”
“Then, there’s the pressure of events. I need to look good, stand out, and keep up with the latest fashion, which comes with its own costs. It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparison, and sometimes, it affects my mental health.”
Welcome to the “Rich-Girl” Club
Beauty, fashion, and lifestyle influencer, Priya, shares her issues on “pressure to project a rich-girl persona just to be accepted into the scene. If you’re not spending countless hours schmoozing PRs and making everyone your habibi, you’re not going to stay relevant. Behind the scenes? A lot of influencers are struggling financially. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
“To make matters worse, let’s talk about who’s actually getting the invites and the PR packages. Most of them aren’t even content creators.”
“They’re models, socialites, entrepreneurs, DJs, singers, or just people with insanely pretty faces who blew up on TikTok. They don’t even post, yet they get showered with beauty products. Meanwhile, actual content creators, people of real influence, and makeup artists are grinding away, and for what?”
“Honestly, there are so many dark elements in the Dubai world of influencing covering everything from favouritism, unaccountability, pay gaps, vicious power of platforms, earning potential being centred around particular nationalities, to mental health issues like unhappiness and jealousy.”
Beauty influencer, Sonia, notes that shes seen brands working with some very questionable influencers. “I can think of one in particular who traveled to another country for what I’m assuming was a lucrative brand deal. The scandals I’ve heard from multiple legit sources about this influencer are boat-rocking.”
“I’m sure the brand founders trusted the PR they hired and had no idea of the true character of the influencer that was acting as the face of their brand. This influencer knows how to work the system like a pro. It’s too bad because it cheapened their brand and the spot could have been given to an influencer with integrity.”
When PR Goes Rogue
Sonia attended the launch of a beauty brand making its debut in the region at a luxury venue on the Palm. “The event was beautifully executed, but something felt off. The crowd wasn’t packed with beauty influencers as you’d expect. Instead, there was a lot of hushed gossip, and soon the truth spilled out.”
“The hired PR lead had invited all her personal friends, including a sizeable group of primary school teachers. I couldn’t help but feel for the brand’s founder, who was clueless that she was footing the bill for an extravagant get-together of non-influencers disguised as a launch.”
“I can think of at least 30 beauty influencers who would have loved to be invited to the event. They would have created content with the products and actually influenced.”
“Word has it that this PR agent does it a lot. Not surprisingly, the brand hasn’t performed well in the region.”
Shady Disclosure Practices
Ever wonder if the influencer is posting about a product because they genuinely love the product, or if they’re getting paid to post? Gia gets it.
“One of the biggest issues is the lack of transparency when it comes to labelling sponsored content. Influencers aren’t really encouraged or told to disclose if their posts are ads, if they’ve been invited somewhere, or if it’s a collaboration.”
“Brands and PRs don’t want that information out there. Personally, I believe in full transparency, so I always make sure to mention it in my posts. I base that on what I see from influencers in Western countries, where it’s a given to include that information upfront.”
Is this even legal?
Wellness influencer Noor, speaks on unspoken rules. “Agencies agree on a price with you and then start to pressure you.”
“Many of the larger agencies will promise to include you in a campaign, but behind the scenes, they ask for a portion of what you’re earning if they choose you. Sometimes up to half. It’s a whole deeper issue, and I have a lot to say about it, but honestly, I’m not sure if I’m crossing a line by speaking out.”
“Some agencies, when they select you, expect you to pay back the intern or agent who picked your profile. It feels like it should be illegal, but so many people accept it, and unfortunately, this is the way things are.”
Behind the Engagement Pods
Engagement pods and groups are another ugly reality of the influencer world. According to Noor, “for a fee, you can pay to have other influencers like your posts and boost your engagement. It’s completely inorganic and not representative of your actual following, yet somehow agencies overlook this, and many brands continue to work with these people.”
“The pressure doesn’t stop there. In these pods, you’re required to engage with 100 other members’ posts before you can share your own. Miss a post? You risk being blacklisted or removed from the group.”
“It’s an endless cycle of commenting to keep up the engagement, but it creates fake interactions. I used one of these groups once, and it was honestly ridiculous.”
“I posted a deeply emotional message about a world event, and almost all the comments I got were about how pretty I looked and completely unrelated to the content. That was the last time I ever used an engagement group.”
Sonia observes that sometimes it pays off, literally. “I’ve seen influencers who are engagement pod queens get paid to go on the dreamiest brand trips and even paid to go to Dubai-based events.”
“Their numbers are fake, their comments are fake, everything is fake. Does anyone care? It’s frustrating when you try to go about things the right way and are just invisible to these types of opportunities.”
Can’t believe the influencer drama? There’s even a tv show about it now.