In 2025, the new influencer hype isn’t marketing you protein drinks, productivity tricks, or morning journaling schedules—they’re selling you faith. Enter the Delulu age: an online cultural movement where delusional faith is not merely tolerated, it’s desirable. What started off as a facetious TikTok hashtag—”delulu” as in delusional—has quickly grown into a Gen Z mantra, particularly on Indian Instagram, where it has taken off in a direction of its own.
Delulu Era
Browse through your feed and the telltale signs are to be seen. Creators project ideal careers for which they have no professional experience, students imagine international success from small bedrooms, and reels loudly assert, “Act like you already made it.” It’s a mix of maximal hustle culture and soft girl aesthetics, where hyper-confidence is infused with staged vulnerability, pastel color filters, and glittery affirmations. Delulu isn’t a vibe; it’s an act of possibility, a form of spiritual cosplay for the perpetually online.
Psychologists are terming it “adaptive delusion”—a contemporary coping strategy for Gen Z, dealing with economic insecurity, screen fatigue, and perpetual social comparison. For some, delulu is not about lying but about survival. In a world that seems to be growing more unpredictable by the day, pretending confidence is a survival strategy. It’s manifestation meets method acting—acting so convincingly that it may just turn real.
Indian Delulu
In India, where traditional career structures often reign, delulu offers a fresh script. Young creatives are refusing linear timelines, opting instead to idealize their struggles and recast their failures as plot turns. From college kids proclaiming themselves future CEOs to influencers posting “POVs” of their fantasy lives, this aesthetic isn’t so much escapist—it’s calculated. It lets consumers rewrite their own narratives in the moment, frequently with humor, optimism, and a healthy infusion of irony.
But the movement is not without controversy. Some criticize that delulu culture can romanticize denial, perpetuating toxic positivity and idealistic expectations. The fear is that always faking that everything is okay could stop real emotional processing. Others caution that unchecked delusion could result in burnout when the staged fantasy does not meet reality. There is a thin line between imagining success and shying away from the effort required to attain it.
But perhaps that’s missing the point. Delulu isn’t about ignoring reality—it’s about rewriting it. It reflects a deeper desire to reclaim agency in a world that often feels algorithmically out of control. At its core, delulu is about possibility: believing you’re worthy of something bigger, even if the world hasn’t caught up yet.
Whether you call it brave optimism or internet-age delusion, this much is certain: delulu is catching on. In a time that requires constant reinvention, perhaps faking it till you make it isn’t a falsehood—it’s a leap of faith. And for Gen Z, that leap may be the most realistic thing they can do.
Funny artical But pointed out some serious facts.