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Journalism of Courage
The slang ‘broke’ which means ‘having completely run out of money’ is often used by people to signify financial scarcity that makes it hard to pay for utilities like rent and electricity. However, a travel influencer’s careless use of the term has invited criticism from netizens.
In a Twitter thread, social media personality Aakanksha Monga @Aakanksha_99, shared some tips for travelling while being “broke”.
In the Twitter thread, she lists tips like volunteering at hostels by “offering them to click pictures for their website or social media in exchange of food & stay”, using “credit card points to book flights and hotels”, travelling during “shoulder season”, avoiding unnecessary expenditure like buying new clothes, building an online presence to get brand partnerships, and doing “internships in the cities you want to travel to”.
In the comments, many people noted that the tips given by Monga were flippant and unhelpful for people who are really ‘broke’. Many people also questioned whether these tips are practical at all because it is next to impossible to frequently land paid internships or feasible barter programmes with hostels.
A Twitter user also highlighted that the shoes won by Monga in her first tweet were Adidas sneakers that retail for Rs 14,999.
Commenting on Monga’s post, a Twitter user wrote, “I hope nobody is taking threads like this seriously because mam, you are not broke if you have credit card points to book flights.” Echoing a similar sentiment, another person wrote, “The broke she’s talking about is the privileged broke, the ones you see in karan johar movies?”.
