Apoorva Mukhija
@the.rebel.kid | Face of Genz
Q1. How did @the.rebel.kid come into the world of content creation?
I’ve always been the kid teachers complained about, the kid who always talked too much and “distracted the other kids,” but I loved being the class clown. I loved making people laugh, telling stories, and cracking jokes. I was fascinated with YouTube and tried creating content for the first 2 years of my college life but failed at being consistent. When lockdown hit, I had no one to talk to but the camera, so I made multiple videos every single day. I never expected to be recognised, or for the videos to go viral, I just needed an escape. I wanted to share my struggles, my stories and my problems. But slowly, I realised that I was not alone; in fact, a lot of people related to my struggle and felt seen through my content and found my videos relatable; that is how I found the motivation to create more content.
Q2. What’s the secret to your viral reel vlogs?
I don’t think there is any secret. In fact, I think there is no perfect recipe for making a viral video, but I do believe that people love authenticity. Everyone is tired of seeing the perfect life on Instagram, and when they see someone struggling through life just as they do, they find it relatable and, hence, sharable. I think relatability is the key to virality because everybody just wants to feel seen and heard.
Q3. If not “the rebel kid”, what else would you have kept as your identity?
I would be the girl who lives life to the fullest, the girl who dreams big and achieves it. The girl who travels, talks to strangers and instantly becomes their friend. The girl you look up to, not because of all the incredible things that she has done but because of how unapologetically she is herself, that she motivates you to let go of your self-doubts.
Q4. If you had to choose between not travelling for the rest of your life and not using Social media for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
I will absolutely avoid social media for the rest of my life because social media can be a difficult place sometimes, but travelling makes you feel alive. Travelling teaches you more than any school ever will. It makes you feel more confident and alive. When you travel, you realise that all your problems amount to nothing and that the world is so much bigger than you ever thought. It makes you feel small in the best way possible.
Q5. What other creators do you enjoy watching?
Emma Chamberlain and Sam Kolder.
Q6. As we look back on Exhibit’s 18-year anniversary, how do you see the content creation journey has evolved over the years?
In the beginning, I was only focused on numbers and views, but now, I focus more on putting out the content that makes me happy, the content that I know will make an impact. For instance, “Saddie trying to be a baddie”. I knew that this series would not do incredibly well, but I know for a fact that when I look back at the content that I made in this series 10 years from now, I will be proud of what I created and how I motivated women to move on and find happiness and work harder even when their heart is shattered into a million pieces while the entire world is judging them. I have also transitioned from making just comic rant videos to travel mini vlogs because that is what truly makes me happy.