Blog #4 - Essena O'Neill and Van Dijck's neoliberal economic principles

Last year, Essena O’Neill (Australian social media influencer) made the bold decision to expose the reality behind her Instagram photos. For example, one image capturing O’Neill sporting a skimpy swim suit explained she hadn’t actually ate anything that day… she starved herself in anticipation of her swim suit photo shoot. There is nothing to admire about that – but how would her followers ever find out? They wouldn’t. She confessed she was addicted to gaining attention for her flawless appearance. O’Neill had acquired hundreds of thousands of followers and likes on her *edited* Instagram photos. Her action of deleting 2000 photos and exposing the reality behind some of them challenges Van Dijck’s “neoliberal economic principles” of the culture of connectivity of contemporary social media platforms.

One of Dijck’s principles explains that social media platforms are structured around ideologies and hierarchical ranking (popularity principle). Initially O’Neill was caught up in this popularity principle that Dijck refers to. However, her decision to reveal the truth of what was going on behind her Instagram account directly opposes Dijck's popularity principle.

O’Neill initially felt pressure to satisfy her huge follower base by providing them with perfect and flawless images. She would go extreme lengths to create these photos – fake tanning, starving herself, putting on a fake smile, etc. When she received likes on her photos she felt like she was gaining power – just like the type of connectivity Dijck describes. Dijck proposes that “connectivity derives from a continuous pressure to expand through competition and gain power through strategic alliance” (Van Dijck, page 21). However, O’Neill realized the toxic routine she became accustomed to and was able to escape that kind of connectivity.