I was scrolling one night, half-tired, when a short clip stopped my thumb.
A creator was holding up a plate of something steaming, describing it fast, cutting between close-ups and a bright caption. Within a day, I'd already heard two friends mention the same stall. That's the speed we live at now.
And honestly, part of me loves it.
Because of these creators, small kitchens get found. A family stall in a quiet corner suddenly has a queue. Muslim diners discover food they never knew was within reach, from cuisines they'd have walked past before. Restaurants that once treated halal diners as an afterthought are paying attention now. Faces that rarely appeared on screens are telling their own stories. That matters.
I've watched a single video send people to a business that genuinely deserved it. That's a good thing to witness.
But I'd be dishonest if I stopped there.
Because the same speed that lifts a stall can bury the truth. A dish looks incredible on camera, and the caption says "halal," but where does that claim come from? Was the certificate checked, or did someone just take a friendly word for it? A trend forms, and suddenly halal becomes a label to ride rather than a responsibility to carry.
Sponsorships blur things too. When you can't tell whether a recommendation came from the heart or from a fee, the trust gets thin. And a thirty-second clip, for all its energy, can flatten a whole culture into a punchline and a jingle.
Here's what I keep coming back to. Influencers aren't the problem, and they aren't the cure. They're people with a microphone. What decides their worth is whether they check before they praise, whether they say when something's sponsored, whether they'll correct themselves when they get it wrong.
And it falls on us too, the ones watching. Enjoy the videos. Let them lead you somewhere new. But ask your own questions when it counts, especially about what makes food halal in the first place.
Influence is just borrowed trust. The people who remember that, who handle it gently, are the ones worth following.
The rest is only noise, dressed up nicely.
