'Cringe legends': IIM-Udaipur explores why digital content creators embracing awkward, uncool

New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) Did you recently notice a "cringe" reel on your social media feed and were left surprised with the huge number of followers the content creator has? The "explosion" in the volume of people deliberately posting self-humiliating content and amplifying their imperfections online has generated so much interest and curiosity that an Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Udaipur team has commissioned a study into "cringe content".

From a young man in twenties who works at a parking lot and makes stunt videos for passion to a housewife who reviews different beauty products for her social media page, the IIM team is studying what makes small town digital influencers embrace it.

The project titled "Digital Heartland of India" aims at understanding the space of content creation in tier 2 and 3 towns of the country, and exploring why the content creators aspire to be "cringe legends" and if, in future, brands will shed their inhibitions of being associated with these influencers.