Image: Instagram/Busisiwe Mtshali
Lockdown actress Busisiwe Mtshali has well over 100k followers on social media and is proud of how she’s been to grown that number organically, as opposed to having to put on an Instagram life image to attract more followers.
In an interview with TshisaLIVE, Busisiwe said it was a relief to know that the people that follow her did it for the real her.
She said it was better to gain authentic supporters than curate a tailor-made Instagram fake life to maintain people that follow you for an image.
“I have been fortunate to grow with my followers. It has been a slow and gradual growth that I am grateful for because the people that follow me, genuine appreciate my work and who I am as the artist behind the work.
“I’m glad that is the case because I don’t think I’m being followed because of my aesthetics. Like I don’t have that whole Instagram aesthetic, you know the ‘Insta life’ vibe. I am just genuinely authentic even on my social media and I think people follow me because of that. If I had to curate content for the ‘gram, I’d die. I’d probably fall off the wagon after two days,” she said before breaking into laughter.
Having gained most of her initial fans through SABC 1 sitcom, Thandeka’s Diary, the actress said she realised early on that most of her followers were quite young.
That is part of the reasons, she explained, that she had to be careful not to “sell” them a lie.
“For me it makes me very happy to know that children look up to me but even more when they look up to a character such as Thandeka.
“In a time like now where teenagers are disrespectful and beating up their teachers, it gives me hope to provide them which a good role model within the TV space. Thandeka is respectful and thoughtful and smart and hardworking.”In a previous interview with TshisaLIVE, Busi explained what acting meant to her and how it contributed to her life’s purpose.
“I think, especially for the black community, we don’t really talk about our pains or tragedies or really going within the self. For many of us the only way we can kind of have a purging of emotions is through the characters we engage with or relate to through television productions. That is why I love acting. I am able to be a like a distant therapist.”