Every few weeks, we are reminded of social media’s toxicity. In Singapore, studies increasingly link heavy social media use to poor sleep quality, high rates of depression, and anxiety among young people.1 Globally, researchers such as Jonathan Haidt2 have argued that social media is rewiring adolescence, dramatically affecting mental health, educational outcomes, and human development.
As a father of two teens myself, I am aware of these issues. The impact of social media on my children and their friends gives me a fair amount of anxiety. Back in the classrooms where I teach, I see students who cannot concentrate for more than 10 minutes at a time and feel lost without their mobile phones. We are only beginning to understand the long-term impact of social media.
At the same time, in a recent project I conducted in rural India, I discovered a much more positive side of this story. As part of a research team at the Consumer Culture Lab,3 we examined how farmers in remote parts of India use social media, especially YouTube and Instagram. In this context, these digital platforms are not simply sources of distraction or harm but are emerging infrastructures for knowledge sharing, peer learning, and market transformation. We argue that under the right conditions, social media can empower marginalised communities to access information, build confidence, and reshape their participation in the market.
Under the right conditions, social media can empower marginalised communities to access information, build confidence, and reshape their participation in the market.
FARMERS AS INFLUENCERS: A QUIET REVOLUTION IN RURAL INDIA
For decades, India’s 120 million smallholder farmers — most of whom cultivate plots under two hectares — have struggled with limited access to reliable, timely information. Agricultural extension systems often failed to reach remote villages, leaving farmers dependent on local shopkeepers or informal networks for advice.
But today, rural India is one of the fastest-changing regions in the world. The most significant driver of change is the rise of mobile technology. With over 700 million smartphone users in India and rural penetration exceeding 50%,4 combined with some of the world’s lowest mobile data prices, farmers can now access a digital world that was out of reach until recently.
Our research shines a light on a very different kind of farmer: those who become social media influencers. These are farmers who discover new farming methods and want to share their insights with their peers. While their initial motivation is often to help other farmers, successful influencers quickly realise how they can supplement their income. Some of the influencers we met were able to double the farm’s monthly revenues through their social media activities. Several influencers we met receive regular payments from Google for their growing YouTube views and proudly share pictures of their YouTube awards.
Rural signal, digital shift
In rural India today, over 425 million villagers are active internet users — making up more than half of the country’s digital population. With mobile networks reaching 95% of rural areas, connectivity is no longer a privilege. Among youth aged 15 to 29, 95% own smartphones and 93% go online monthly, quietly reshaping daily life across the heartland.
Photo: iStock / pixelfusion3d
Some farmer-influencers have already built massive audiences, reaching numbers rivalling or surpassing mainstream social media stars. For example, YouTube channels like Indian Farmer5 (4.9 million subscribers), Farming Leader6 (6.5 million subscribers), and Indian Farm Rover7 (557,000 subscribers) have become essential sources of practical knowledge for millions of smallholder farmers.
Farming’s digital pioneer
From the fields to screens across India, Santosh Jadhav co-founded Indian Farmer — a multimedia agritech movement spanning YouTube, Instagram, and online courses. Through real-farm videos on irrigation, crop planning, pest control, and entrepreneurship, he empowers a new generation of digital-age farmers.
Source: Instagram @indianfarmer
These farmer-influencers produce highly targeted, actionable content: how to prevent crop diseases, adopt cost-effective irrigation systems, optimise fertiliser use, select seeds, or navigate the maze of government subsidies.
From viewer to mentor
A young farmer from Rajasthan, Arjun Jatt began his journey by learning farming through YouTube videos. Now, he runs his own channel, sharing techniques, insights, and hands-on knowledge to guide and inspire the next generation of farmers.
Source: Prof Julien Cayla & Sayantan Dey
But unlike influencers who dominate conversations in Singapore or the West, these creators do not promote luxury brands, fashion, or entertainment. We are far from the glamour of social media influencers usually featured in the news. Instead, these farmer-influencers produce highly targeted, actionable content: how to prevent crop diseases, adopt cost-effective irrigation systems, optimise fertiliser use, select seeds, or navigate the maze of government subsidies.
Consider Arjun Jatt, a young farmer from Rajasthan. Arjun inherited his family’s farm when his father passed away, but he knew little about managing it. “I didn’t even know how to spray pesticides on my first soybean crop,” he recalls. Desperate to learn, Arjun turned to YouTube. Searching for “how to spray in the field.” Little by little, he began to educate himself — first on basic tasks, then on more advanced farming techniques. Over time, this habit of digital learning transformed him from an inexperienced farmer into a confident practitioner of what he calls technical farming — farming that combines modern tools, data, and efficient practices.
Over time, Arjun’s relationship with digital content shifted from consumption to creation. In 2023, he launched his own YouTube channel, sharing firsthand farming experiences — from drip irrigation to experimenting with early-season vegetable production. His often simple but highly practical videos have reached thousands of viewers across India, inspiring other farmers to try new techniques.
A NEW KIND OF KNOWLEDGE WORKER
Picture this: a farmer in his field, headphones on, listening to a YouTube video about farming. Today’s Indian farmers are digitally connected knowledge workers trying to learn about more profitable crops, new technologies, and other ways to make a better living. When we hear the term knowledge workers, we often picture professionals in urban offices — bankers, consultants, or software engineers making big decisions from glass towers. However, our research suggests that knowledge work is also flourishing in far less expected places.
Tech roots in rural soil
Peer-shared knowledge through smartphones and social media has created fertile ground for startups like Niqo Robotics. Its AI spot-spraying robots retrofit existing sprayers, enabling digitally connected farmers to adopt precision farming. Built on this grassroots momentum, Niqo now operates across multiple states and is backed by leading global investors.
Source: Niqo Robotics
In rural India, social media is not simply a source of distraction. Under the right conditions, it serves as a platform for farmers to become active knowledge producers and consumers, testing new techniques, sharing localised expertise, and exchanging critical market information. The community also helps regulate the kind of information that circulates. Farmer-influencers openly review products, demonstrate technologies in real-world conditions, and warn peers against predatory actors. In doing so, they build peer-based systems of trust and accountability that bypass traditional information bottlenecks.
This grassroots circulation of knowledge transforms rural India into a more tech-savvy, innovative environment. Start-ups like Carnot (IoT solutions for tractor rental monitoring) or Niqo (AI-powered pesticide optimisation) have gained traction partly because digitally connected farmers, empowered by peer-shared knowledge, are better positioned to assess, adopt, or reject new technologies. In Singapore, innovation is often associated with AI advances or financial sector shifts. Yet, it is rural India that may be experiencing the most transformative wave of innovation in Asia.
When connectivity pays
Across Southeast Asia, digital tools and peer-shared knowledge are driving smarter decisions, better yields, and higher farm incomes. In Indonesia (2022), internet-using farmers earn 29.6% more, especially in horticulture and livestock. In Vietnam (2023), connectivity raises crop revenue by 14% per hectare and 20% per labour hour.
Photo: iStock / Thirawatana Phaisalratana
There is power in peer-driven knowledge because it is knowledge created by farmers who understand the needs and anxieties of other farmers. Rather than being pushed from the top, knowledge is being created from the ground up.
Kenya’s crop detectives in action
Across Kenya, farmers are using WhatsApp groups and the AI-powered PlantVillage app to snap a leaf and get instant diagnoses for pests and diseases. With over 10,000 users reporting average yield increases of 40%, these grassroots tech tools rooted in peer networks are revolutionising crop health and transforming rural markets from the ground up.
Source: PlantVillage
LESSONS FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA
Our research in rural India holds powerful lessons for other parts of Asia. Farmers often face similar challenges across countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines: fragmented supply chains, limited government extension services, underdeveloped rural credit systems, and persistent information gaps.
Governments and international agencies have historically sought to address these deficits through top-down interventions — expert-led training programs, centralised advisory portals, or large-scale digital platforms designed and managed by public institutions. A prominent example is ITC’s e-Choupal initiative in India, which aimed to empower farmers by installing internet kiosks in rural areas to provide access to market prices, weather forecasts, and best farming practices. However, the kiosks were frequently repurposed for entertainment rather than entrepreneurial or educational uses, highlighting the limitations of such expert-driven, centralised interventions.
In contrast, what is powerful with social media is how bottom-up knowledge creation can lead to market transformation. There is power in peer-driven knowledge because it is knowledge created by farmers who understand the needs and anxieties of other farmers. Rather than being pushed from the top, knowledge is being created from the ground up. Farmers can watch videos on YouTube that feel relevant, immediate, and credible.
A new wave of social farming is on the rise, not only in India, but worldwide: a form of agriculture where farmers use the power of social media and community to drive innovation and increase income. In Kenya, for example, farmers use Facebook groups and WhatsApp channels as essential sources of advice, product sourcing, market price updates and even peer-generated credit scores. In Ghana and Nigeria, social media platforms are playing a growing role in transforming agricultural value chains and creating new connections between farmers, processors, traders, and end consumers. In all these contexts, we see the organic growth of peer learning systems geared towards meeting the daily needs of working farmers.
At home, I still ponder what will happen to my kids and how they will cope with the power of social media. I wonder what the internet is doing to their ability to focus, do deep work, and succeed. Like other parents, I worry about the toxicity of social media and its impact on mental health.
At the same time, we must remember that for many communities in the Global South, social media is the first time they have the tools to create and circulate relevant knowledge. For policymakers in Asia, the question is how to create an environment that allows such a bottom-up digital ecosystem to thrive. ∞
JULIEN CAYLA
Prof Julien Cayla is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). An award-winning researcher, Prof Cayla is passionate about bringing anthropological theories and methods to study consumer culture in Asia. His research has been featured in a range of media outlets, including The Atlantic, Le Monde, The Straits Times, the BBC, and Channel News Asia. Professor Cayla is also the founder of the Consumer Culture Lab in India (https://cclab.iimu.ac.in). He currently serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Consumer Research.
AUGUST 2025 | ISSUE 14
SCREENS BETWEEN US
- “Study investigates How Social Media Addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder Impact Sleep Quality.” James Cook University, 20 Jun 2024, https://www.jcu.edu.sg/news/releases/study-investigates-how-social-media-addiction-and-internet-gaming-disorder-impact-sleep-quality.
- Odgers, Candice L. “The Great Rewiring: Is Social Media Really Behind an Epidemic of Teenage Mental Illness?” Nature, Springer Nature, 29 Mar 2024, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00902-2.
- “Consumer Culture Lab.” Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, https://cclab.iimu.ac.in/. Accessed 18 Jun 2025.
- “India Had Over 700 mn Active Internet Users by Dec 22: Report.” Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, 16 Mar 2023, https://indbiz.gov.in/india-had-over-700-mn-active-internet-users-by-dec-22-report.
- “Indian Farmer — YouTube,” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/@IndianFarmer/featured. Accessed 18 Jun 2025.
- "Farming Leader — YouTube,” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/@farmingleaderOfficial. Accessed 18 Jun 2025.
- “Indian Farm Rover — YouTube,” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/@IndianFarmRover. Accessed 18 Jun 2025.
