" a culture where the organization of social exchange is staked on neoliberal economic principles. Connectivity derives from a continuous pressure—both from peers and technologies--to expand through competition and gain power through strategic alliances. Platform tactics such as the popularity principle and ranking mechanisms . . . are firmly rooted in a ideology of that values, hierarchy, competition and a winner take all mind set” (p. 21)
Well the neoliberal economic influence of connectivity may have limited affect on regular users of social media whom are just there to stay connected with friends and check out their favourite celebrities or "Instagram celebrities" the truth is we all play a role in this culture. Well you may only occasionally post photographs to Instagram it is the people that everyday users follow that are affected. Take once Instagram famous Essena O'Neill for example, O'Neill had over a million followers and was making lots of money from simply posting images on Instagram and other social media sites like Tumblr. Well everyday people like myself liked her photographs commenting about how they aspire to be like O'Neill they did not understand what was truly going on behind the scenes. O'Neill eventually became fed up with the lifestyle she was living. Although O'Neill's social media presence had transformed into her career she stepped away in order to better herself mentally.
It was the pressures from other social media users following O'Neill that truly got to her, she would take hundreds of photographs in order to get one picture to share with the millions of people waiting to see. O'Neill says she constantly wanted more likes and more followers and her Instagram eventually consumed her life. Photoshoots took over her life and she was no longer having fun, everything was staged for more likes.
Once O'Neill left social media she posted one last video which explains the business aspect she experienced, companies would send her emails explaining where they wanted her to show the product, how to hold the product, and even what to say in her post. O'Neill even had a male super model approach her about having a fake online relationship in order to gain more followers and in turn make more money, telling her to think of it as a "business proposal"(Parkinson, 2015).
Essena O'Neill is the perfect example of what Van Dijck's model of cultural connectivity being staked on neoliberal economic principles. O'Neill was influenced and pressured by her followers and so called "friends" too continue posting better, more beautiful pictures. She had become a top ranking individual of instagram with millions of followers and had to continue to please in order to stay at the top of the social media hierarchy. The moment she resigned from her accounts she faced backlash and individuals became angered with her, she had lost all the power she once had. O'Neill still faces pressure from media to speak about how she is doing know proving even when individuals try to disconnect there is still a constant pressure to be part of the connected society we live in today. Ultimately, O'Neill's situation with social media shows many perfect examples of what Van Dijck explains as the neolibralism economic principles of social media.
References
Dijck, Jose Van. The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.
Parkinson, H. (2015). Instagram star Essena O'Neil calls out fake social media couples. The Guardian.
Hey just wanted to pose a question, obviously this was a great read but do you (or anyone else reading this) feel as if people like Essena are to blame for younger generations quench and need for stardom and distorting of their bodies or are Instagram Models considered victims as they are "forced" to continuously kept up a life that their followers yearn for, thus left without a choice but to go to extreme lengths like O'Neil to keep up a fake facade.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Nakas. Personally, I feel as though people like Essena are to blame for the younger generations desire of stardom. I feel this is because these people are considered 'popular' and to those whom desire to have similar elite status, will follow the actions and eventually inherit the same traits as their 'role models'. People are desperately searching for approval and feel as though this is a way to gain that approval - which is unhealthy as they're forced to maintain a faulty lifestyle. I think if one feels the need to broadcast their 'amazing lifestyle' through mediums such as Instagram, they need to reevaluate their life and try to introduce honesty to the platform instead as the repercussions have a bigger impact on society than one may think.
ReplyDeleteNakas, I think this is a great question. I believe that instagram famous people such as Essena are definitely to blame for the younger generations need for comments and likes on their social media pages. Due to these figures of stardom and the rise of promotion through instagram it has become more popular to pay attention to the time one post's on social media to obtain as much attention as possible... and if the post doesn't get as much as the poster intended the photo is deleted to avoid destroying the social status. This is something I see from my younger sister - if she doesn't get more than 300 likes on her photos they are deleted within 24 hours. All these instagram famous people who have good social media pages typically do not live the lives that are perceived and rather they are taken solely for the content. Overall, I believe that social media has a bigger impact on our social lives than we comprehend.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a great question to take into consideration Nakas. After giving it some thought I do believe that Instagram models like Essena do play a huge part in forming the identity of young teenagers. Young girls specifically look at models like Essena and feel that they have to look like her in order to be considered good enough. The problem arises when girls who look nothing like her would go to great lengths in order to achieve her look. On the other hand, I do believe in this case Essena is also a victim of the pressure to be a certain way; the way society wants her to be. As a whole, I believe that the pressure to please society and meet societal expectations is the main issue here.
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