âIn this world, social media is everythingâ: how Dubai became the planetâs influencer capital Busra Duran, who moved to Dubai three years ago âbecause this is where the big brands areâ. Photograph: Andrea Salerno Jácome/The Guardian Busra Duran, who moved to Dubai three years ago âbecause this is where the big brands areâ. Photograph: Andrea Salerno Jácome/The Guardian Once a small port on the edge of a desert, Dubai is now a magnet for reality stars and a jet set crowd looking to beat the vaccine queue. But do the filtered images tell the whole story?