Influencer Essena O’Neill made a large
decision to delete her Instagram account which created an uproar in the social
media industry. A lot of her followers
understood from her perspective where as there were many followers who claim
she made this big scene in order to gain more followers. Personally, I do not
think this is case – her youtube video was incredibly real and truthful and she
said things that made her vulnerable. Yet she created it with hopes that would
impact the industry for the sake of other models and their mental health. She
stated that social media had negative impacts on her life. When looking at her
you’d think she was perfect. She is skinny, beautiful, tanned with white teeth
and a gorgeous successful boyfriend. How could you not be happy with that? She
expressed that her boyfriend, despite his Audi and success was one of the most
depressed people she had ever knew – and that is when she decided to expose
herself and the social media industry and the negative impacts it had on her
life.
Her Instagram was staged; it would take 100 takes for one perfect Instagram photo and it would further be edited. Her Instagram “wasn’t real”, it
wasn’t the life she lived but rather the life she wanted people to perceive. She
was successful in the way her 12 year old self defined success, but with this
came living her life for her Instagram and not for herself. Van Dijck states
that, “Platform tactics such as the popularity principle and ranking mechanism…
are firmly noted in an ideology that values, hierarchy, competition and a winner
take all mindset.” (p. 21) Her idea of neoliberalism economics can makes sense
of her actions as she craved the attention and valued the approval and
acceptance of strangers through notifications. This shows the strategy of
creating alliances with popular brands. These sponsorships create large revenues,
not only for the company but the model themselves. However, with this comes the
pressure of competing with other Instagram famous models and it then becomes a
competition of who will obtain the most comments and likes in order to be
ranked as “the best”. Furthermore, the mentality of “never getting enough
attention” is an issue and that is why O’Neill kept going until she realized
how dangerous social media really was and thus ended her career for her 12 year
old self.
I agree with, and appreciate your personal opinion about the intentions of Essena when she deleted her accounts. I too felt that her video was very genuine, and her statements regarding the companies and agencies she worked for were too harsh to be for publicity. Now, you must explicitly state that the photo is promoting a brand, which helps to identify accounts that are solely made to gain power and a large following.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was searching through different articles about her, I actually came across one that claimed she had to ask her followers to financially support her regular lifestyle, as she could no longer make profits from any outside companies. I wonder she would still have deleted all her accounts if she knew this would be the outcome.
I find it complete insanity that she began to ask her followers to "donate" money to support her rent. She was fed into a high end lifestyle where things were constantly being sent to her, and she was paid to post an instagram or promote through instagram. However, she obviously did not think about the repercussions of her actions when she deleted all her media. But what I personally do not understand is why is she looking for sympathy through her followers and asking for their money rather than just changing her lifestyle - moving into a less expensive home, cut down on luxuries and find a job that she actually has to work for rather than get by with her looks and good body.
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ReplyDeleteI appreciated how you mentioned how Essena "came living her life for her Instagram and not for herself." But part of me wonders when she noticed she was unhappy, or how long she was unhappy for? I'm sure originally, she was extremely happy and addicted to attention of her accounts but I truthfully wonder when she crossed the line. I also like the photo you used at the very top of your post, because it really emphasizes her and her life without the filter.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with how you called out Essena for putting her virtual life before her real life. It strikes me as weird that in today's age people feel the urgency to promote themselves through the various mediums instead of trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This ultimately makes me view social media as a drug (for some people). Much like a drug addict chases that particular high, social media addicts chase the high they get from high totals of likes and comments. I find this very interesting seeing as roughly 10 years ago, social media wasn't a reality and this whole concept of broadcasting your lifestyle was non-existent.
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