Essena O'Neil Exit from Social Media

Last year the Guardian released an article discussing why media star and influencer Essena O’Neil decided to quit social media by deleting her very popular Instagram fitness account. Some argue that her decision to quit social media was in the vein of enabling various perspectives regarding health, beauty and body positivity. The article outlines the hidden realities of being celebrity or social media influencer and the negative effects that Instagram and the ideologies it represents had on her personal life. She notes that on average she would make $2000AUD on each individual post that is displayed to over 600,000 followers. Therefore when her photos and accounts were not gaining popularity, she would unconsciously strive for perfection and approval from online strangers.

Essena explains that she found herself lost in a battle with being beautiful. She explains in an interview with Time Magazine “If anything my social media addiction, perfectionist personality and low self esteem made my career,” she said. “Over-sexualisation, perfect food photos, perfect travel blogs – it is textbook how I got famous. Sex sells, people listen to pretty blondes, I just happened to talk about veganism a trending thing on YouTube.” (2016). This quote exemplifies what Van Dijck would address as “neoliberal economic principals” which relates directly to the culture of connectivity. Van Dijck argues that, “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 an ideology that values, hierarchy, competition and a winner take all mind set” (Van Dijck, 2013, p. 21). I would argue that this quote relates directly to Essena’s experience on social media (specifically Insatgram) platforms where she has pressure on her from a variety of fans. Similarly to any online celebrity, once you are able to secure a fan base it is important to remain relevant and reliable. This can be done in a variety of ways such as through posts and updates which discuss the exploitation of social media on their users, and how online celebrities are really just idolized as tools to promote the platform they've found fame on. It is evident that this fear of exploitation is the exact reason Van Dijck outlines why Essena left her online fame. Over time Essena felt a sense of pressure, from both the app and her followers, to perform and be the version of you who they wanted you to be, not necessarily who you wanted to be. Essena speaks about an experience she had with a famous male model who was interested in pursuing a fake online relationship, which he referred to as a simple  “business deal” in order to promote both their followings. (The Guardian, 2015).

Additionally Van Dijck argues, “Social media's business models are a delicate harmonizing act between users' trust and owners' monetizing intentions. If users feel they are being manipulated, or exploited, they simply quit the site, causing the platform to lose it's most important asset" (2013, p.40). When I came across this quote I immediately thought of Kim Kardashian and her follower base since the Paris robbery attack. Throughout the past two and a half months Kim’s followers have decreased by over thousands simply because she has not been continually posting and staying ‘relevant’ to her fans. However, ironically Essena’s choice to remove social media from her life ultimately brought her more attention and fame. As we have previously discussed in class people on Instagram are essentially in competition with other users, and themselves, to have the most likes on their photos. This competition ends in a hierarchy of users who are then seen as influencers, role models and the ‘ideal’ figure. I would argue that although Essena deleted Instagram and other media platforms, she is still connected to her followers and the online world through different platforms. Although her message comes off as remote it can be assumed that her target audience would not have received her message if she were not previously famous.

Essena’s story details an important moral lesson for younger generations. She argues that there is nothing authentic or inspirational within the online digital world due to the fact that individuals are otherwise forced to maintain their online profile for expecting fans. This pressure to remain ‘beautiful’ and ‘needed’ continued to negatively impact her life in various ways. Therefore it is apparent that a majority of images and content posted online are not genuine representations of the users life, but rather an image of how they want you to perceive your online life. These lessons can be about the effects likes have on you in regards to your popularity, such as the young girl Katherine Pommerening we studied similar movements have been enacted by Kendall Jenner and other influential members of society who feel as if they are in need of taking a minute to relive the pressure to act and look a certain way.

Works Cited:

McCluskey, M. (2016). Instagram Star Essena O’Neil breaks her silence on quitting

social media. Time Magazine

Van Dijck, J. (2013). The Culture of Connectivity A Critical History of Social Media.

New  York: Oxford University Press.

Parkinson, H. (2015). Instagram star Essena O'Neil calls out fake social media

couples. The Guardian.