Jose Van Dijck
highlights that social media platforms have a neoliberal economic principles. Online
sociality on platforms such as Instagram fosters competition and power
relations. Studies show that “Visiting,
checking other users' profile photos, liking, sharing or commenting on their
photos on Instagram cause individuals to frequently engage in social
comparisons related to physical appearance, thus leading to negative feeling
towards their body. “(Ahadzadeh2017). According to an article written by the
Guardian, in 2015 a very popular Instagram Fitness account run by Essena O’Neil
was closed because the user was tired of striving for perfection in order to
get approval from strangers. Essena claimed that her photos and accounts were
gaining popularity through fake perfection. Essena would wait to eat until her
pictures were taken, in order to be at her thinnest. Essena claimed that she
would easily make $2000AUD on each of her posts that she marketed a product to
her 600 000 plus followers.
Rhetorically Essena’s decision to cut out social
media swarmed her with more attention, she still maintains a website and a
vimeo account. I would argue that although she cut out instgram and other media
platforms, she is still connecting and influencing through different platforms.
Yes her message is different but her message would not have been heard if she
wasn’t famous in the first place. As seen in the picture below, even though
Essena “quit Instagram” she continued to use the platform to promote her new
website. Essena’s continual connection testifies to the neoliberal program that
occurs on the online sphere.
Jose Van Dijck
conceptualization of neoliberalism explores how
the interactions that occur through the online platforms are
economically valued. The strive to gain likes and followers is based on the
desire to have what people like Essena have. Essena is able to make a living
off of the users that interact with her content. Even when Essena called out
social media for being fake and that the lives the famous Instagram users are
living is all constructed in order to make money people praised her and gave
her more attention.
I completely agree with your post. It's ironic that her fame rose because she wanted to "quit" the fame she was receiving from Instagram. I think if she really wanted to make her point she should've quit all of social media. That fact that she still uses Instagram to promote her other social media accounts, as you mentioned, goes against what she was initially protesting.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I see your argument and agree to a large extent, I believe that the argument and message she was trying to get across was how unauthentic her photos were, and now, even though she is still using instagram as a platform to raise awareness about something, she is showing true authenticity of her photos. Additionally, do you believe it is possible for people to still advertise product on Instagram and sue Instagram as a business tool/platform while still being authentic in their content? I believe some people may say no because of the fact that these influencers are being paid and that economic interest is fuelling their content. BUT, to look at this from a different perspective, do you trust the opinion of paid employees at Apple when they tell you your device is broken in a certain way and you must do this or that to fix it? Their advice is being driven by economic principles as well…. so how do these two differ? Obviously these are different situations and do have different context, but on a larger scale… both instances are recommendations being made by people to other people as a mean to gain economic resource (pay).
ReplyDeleteMany people who made reaction videos to essences original video (people who were in the same industry or a similar one) said that they understood her argument but they felt they could still do their job (which for many is their passion) while still being truthful and authentic.
I believe that she was ultimately protesting authenticity and the 'lies' that were her advertisements BUT i believe that her using other platforms (or even the same platforms) to promote an authentic self with little to no economic drive is not exactly going against what she was arguing. Additionally, the platforms she transferred to were platforms that she mentioned were not making money off of her content.
I definitely agree with you in believing that despite Essena cutting out popular social media platforms, she still takes advantage of her online fame to preach alternative messages. I liked how you mention that the ability to like, share, view profiles, search through suggestions etc. leads to negative self-evaluations as people are constantly engaging in social comparisons. I find it ironic how she can quit certain social media platforms due to their negative effects, and then join other social media sites in order to post about your dislike for social media. Although I do agree with Essena's assessment that instagram is a popularity contest that many people get consumed by, I feel she's only weakening her message by promoting it on the very platform she's shaming.
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