Blog Post #4: Essena O'Neill

Essena O’Neill’s social media departure and confession definitely bear the intent to oppose neoliberal economic principles as she calls these principles out for weighing too heavily on the youth of today. Essena emphasizes how the social media system encourages a need to portray oneself as perfect to peers, and the result that comes from the pressure to always be striving for perfection with the aim of approval from others. Connecting back to Van Dijck, this leads to an obsession “to expand through competition and gain power through … platform tactics such as the popularity principle and ranking mechanisms” (21) which include one’s number of followers or amount of likes on a post. On the surface, it all seems trivial to get worked up over but in this generation where social media is so prevalent and important to the majority, getting validation from your peers becomes a priority. At the core of O’Neill’s argument is the idea that this culture of connectivity that occupies much of our lives is built upon lies as well as ideals that are not only unrealistic, but unimportant too. Her attention-grabbing confessional goes against neoliberal economic principles by outing the superficiality of social media personas and admitting the ways in which it can be harmful to self-esteem. This self-reflexivity is something that opposes much of the online world.

Van Dijck, J. (2013). The Culture of Connectivity A Critical History of Social Media. New York:
            Oxford University Press.