The Dubai influencer bubble bursts
They made a living by pushing the city-state as a luxurious, safe utopia, then bombs started falling
When Iran began firing missiles at Dubai on Saturday, its influencers did what came naturally — they started recording. As loud booms rang out across the city one Australian, who’s now a resident, stood on a balcony and watched slack-jawed as bombs were intercepted above her.
“I’m scared. I’m actually so scared,” she said as she began the now-deleted Instagram video. “It’s not meant to be happening here,” she added. “We are supposed to be in the safest place.”
Safe is a word that’s long been associated with Dubai. It’s a common theme in the plethora of social media content made about the city in the desert by its army of influencers. It’s also an often cited reason for relocating there.
When British podcaster Luisa Zissman quit her mansion on the outskirts of London last year she said she looked forward to “being able to walk alone at night safely” in Dubai. YouTuber Oli White similarly described London as “unsafe” before he left. “You can't even walk down the road holding your phone without fear for having someone stealing it,” he added.
Their concerns came in spite of evidence that violent crime is falling in London and that their chosen home is now being regularly attacked with bombs and drones sent by neighbouring Iran. As I publish Dubai International Airport, Fairmont The Palm hotel, the Burj Al Arab hotel and buildings near the U.S. Consulate have all been hit. Airspace is closed and many tourists and immigrant residents are unable to easily leave.
The bombardment, and appeals for help from Britain and other countries for safe passage home, has led many to revel in schadenfreude…
After spending years carefully cultivating their image as a safe haven, and embracing thousands of influencers from the west to spread that message, this moment may prove to be existential for Dubai.
The ‘life is so much better here’ narrative pushed online, that’s often packed with imagery of super cars, shiny sky-high towers and seven-star hotels, felt somewhat inauthentic before. Now it feels like it was part of a long con.
And that’s not been helped by what looks like a coordinated response to the crisis. Hundreds of posts have relayed eerily similar ‘Dubai Strong’ messaging and emphasised how residents are getting on with their daily lives.
Local networks like Lovin Dubai have produced compilation videos of residents praising the government…
Unverified videos show the police warning Dubai residents not to film blast damage, and the British embassy in the United Arab Emirates posted this chilling warning to avoid saying anything that wasn't verified from official, i.e. government, sources…
Maybe we’d all be a little less cynical about the veracity of the ‘it’s all fine here’ line if criticism of the government was legal in the United Arab Emirates, but it isn’t. And the fact that so many of Dubai’s influencers are effectively state-sponsored certainly muddies the waters.
Dubai has courted foreign content creators for years. But early last year they launched their biggest effort yet to make the United Arab Emirates the influencer capital of the world when they unveiled a $40/£30 million “content creators support fund”. They also handed out 10-year-residency visas to big name YouTubers like Yes Theory and Supercar Blondie and set out to lure 10,000 influencers via a golden visa scheme.
Within six months, Creators HQ, as the initiative is known, said it had 2,415 influencers on their books. The speed of their recruitment was as impressive as the offer. Tax-free income, access to studios, legal help and mentorship were all part of the package for those with a proven track record in content creation.
What was not emphasised on their glossy website was that members would be expected to create content that contributes to the United Arab Emirates sustainable development objectives.
Now it seems that the nation wants payback. Will that work to rehabilitate the nation’s reputation? Maybe. But this whole episode has shown that Dubai, which has always been a divisive place, just got even more polarising. And for the influencers, their dream lives may have just become a nightmare.
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highly flammable is produced and written by me, Rachel Richardson
I’m a content creator, commentator and a consultant for hire at Beginning, Middle and End, and one half of the The Special Relationship podcast
Say hello at rr@bmend.com
One of the last places I would want to visit, even before they started bombing it.
Agree with the first comment. Totally fascinating!