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Creators of Habit IIGC marks 2 December as India’s first World Influencer Day
MUMBAI: Influence clearly has its day and now, thanks to the Indian Influencer Governing Council (IIGC), it finally has its own date on the calendar too. In a first-of-its-kind move, the Council has declared 2 December as World Influencer Day, giving India’s vast creator community the kind of collective spotlight usually reserved for blockbuster stars and policy-makers.
And in true influencer fashion, the celebration isn’t a quiet affair. It arrives with stories, sessions, hashtags, and an industry-first certification, all aimed at giving creators not a pedestal, but a platform that finally matches their cultural impact.
In the run-up to the big day, IIGC invited creators to share the turning points that shaped their journeys, the flukes, flops, breakthroughs and breakdowns that led them to where they are. Hundreds responded, sending in videos that span language, region, content style and personality. The sheer diversity of the submissions, showcased in IIGC’s Creator Stories highlight reel, doubles up as a portrait of India’s digital culture in all its messy, inventive glory.
The centrepiece of the festivities, however, is a step towards something more structural, the IIGC Certified Influencer Program, promoted as India’s first formal certification for creators. Designed to equip them with guidelines on content responsibility, ecosystem standards, and professional best practices, the programme aims to create a generation of creators who are not just popular, but prepared. Graduates will carry an official “IIGC Certified” tag, a badge the Council says will offer credibility with brands and platforms navigating an often chaotic space.
IIGC chairman Sahil Chopra framed the day as a declaration of intent, not a ceremonial nod. “World Influencer Day belongs to every creator whose voice sparks change, every brand that trusts digital storytelling, and every consumer inspired by authentic content,” he said. “With the launch of the IIGC Certified Influencer Program, we’re not just celebrating creators, we’re building meaningful pathways for education, structure, and long-term success.”
Beyond celebrations, the Council turned the spotlight inward with World Influencer Day Spotlight Sessions, a special edition of IIGC Talks. The conversations paired well-known creators with senior marketers, digging into what actually drives partnerships, how the creator–brand relationship is evolving, and what authenticity looks like in a data-led ecosystem.
The lineup reads like a crash course in today’s marketing power map creators Harpreeth Suri, Shirin Sewani and Shashank Srivastava in conversation with heavyweights including K. Ganapathy Subramaniam (CMO, LT Foods), Pooja Baid (CMO, Versuni), Manasi Karmarkar (head of digital marketing, W for Woman), Shailja Joshi (senior director, marketing, Pepsico), Suneet Singh (senior vice president, marketing, Whiteland Corporation) and Barun Prabhakar (CMO, GRM Overseas).
Many of them didn’t hold back when talking about the influence of, well, influencers. “Creators have transformed how brands connect with people,” said LT Foods’ K. Ganapathy Subramaniam. “They bring authenticity, speed and real emotional resonance into modern marketing.”
Creators echoed that sentiment with an edge. Fashion and lifestyle creator Harpreeth Suri said the celebration finally validates the role creators play, regardless of whether they boast a million followers or a few thousand highly engaged ones. “What matters is the contribution,” she said. “IIGC celebrating World Influencer Day gives creators the respect they deserve.”
On Instagram, the mood has already turned festive. Hundreds of creators have posted gratitude messages, sharing what the journey has meant to them, the late nights, the algorithm anxieties, the learning curves, and the unexpected communities built along the way. Many credited IIGC for offering a sense of belonging in an industry that often feels like a solo sport.
With hashtags like #WorldInfluencerDay and #ThankYouInfluencers already gaining traction, and with creators signing up for the certification programme in sizeable numbers, IIGC seems intent on transforming the celebration into a yearly moment of both reflection and reform.
In a landscape where trends shift faster than a reel can load, World Influencer Day arrives as a rare pause, a moment that both applauds the creator economy and attempts to anchor it. And if the Council’s plans are anything to go by, this may be the start of a more accountable, more skilled, and more empowered era of Indian influence.
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
