Malaysian social media star Vivy Yusof has announced on Instagram that she intends to step back from putting her life for public consumption

It is not a quiet retreat from social media. Vivy Yusof has just made a very public announcement on Instagram that she is entering her “next era”, one that “is going to be equally exciting”. We can understand the Victorian era, which denotes the reign of Queen Victoria, but an era of one social media star is inflation of serious self-importance. Ms Yusof stated that on her birthday (11 December), she “did something [she] thought she would [never] do”. She was stepping back from an active social media life. “I made my account private,” she wrote, without elaborating which account that was. She did mention Proudduck, so it could be that blog page that she started during her university days in London, which, as we understand it, no longer exists or is closed from public perusal. This comes amid the Malaysia government’s crackdown on underaged use of social media.

In her Instagram Stories, she shared the same photo (above) of herself as in the main post, but a purple box with the word “un-influencing.” (yes, the period too) is stretched across her face. It is not clear why she obscured her visage. But, she did say, “I shut the door for people to know about my last life,” she continued—somewhat clumsily—in her comment, “because it’s time for me do it differently this time.” Still calling herself an “influencer”, she said she “will be un-influencing”. It is a thought that is confounding: If the door is shut, how do people still know about her life, even the next? And what is the “it” she intended to do differently? To still wield social power, so compelling it will effect the actions (purchasing, for example), behaviour (modelling themselves after her) or opinion (towards her) of those who rabidly following the once Proudduck?

It is a thought that is confounding: If the door is shut, how do people still know about her life, even the next? And what is the “it” she intended to do differently?

For someone who has, in the past two decades, lived her life rather publicly (and her fans, in turn, vicariously through her), Ms Yusof’s sudden withdrawal from blogging is rather self-defeatist. She did not say if she will lay low on social media too or if her accounts will be set to private (as IG was some weeks back, briefly). Her Facebook, Instagram, TikTok (no post yet) pages remain viewable. Since addressing her IG followers after her husband Fadzarudin Anuar and she were charged with criminal breach of trust early this month, Ms Yusof has continued to post on IG, with the one before the latest about her daughter’s birthday wishes to her. She made no mention on that very day of her decision to withdraw from sharing her life on platforms which had served her well, and from which she could draw a captive audience. It is not entirely clear what she meant when she wrote in conclusion: “So it’s just gonna be you and me for a while. And 1.8 million others…😂 But that’s it for now. Embracing my new private era ❤️”.

She stumped us there: “it’s just gonna be you and me for a while… And 1.8 million others” amount to a “private era”? This is Instagram she was referring to, an account that saw her at her most active, with 12.2K posts to date. While she spoke about her privacy, she made no mention about her family’s, specifically her children’s (her husband Mr Anuar’s IG is set to private). In the photograph she shared with that IG announcement, she does not look at the camera and is outfitted in her usual modest get-up, and in her hands is a ‘Diyana’ handbag from her own brand Duck—not, interestingly, one from her staggeringly huge collection of luxury bags that spurned criticisms from the many non-fans who considered her to be a show-off, more so when news emerged that FashionValet was faring extremely badly. To be sure, Vivy Yusof has been promoting her Duck bags on IG, but her choice on the latest photograph appears to be attentively curated to deliberately play down her love for those far more expensive. She maybe “un-influencing”, but it still appears unabated.

Updated: 19 November 2024, 11:00)

Photo: vivyyusof/Instagram