Neoliberal Economic Principles and Essena O'Neill

The concept that we create a social media identity or persona is one surrounding how many think about this form of networking today. Essena O’Neill is someone who has taken it upon herself to change this. Van Dijck discusses the idea in which the norms surrounding online sociality are constantly changing. Today, there are feelings that come with social networking where people feel the need to create idealized versions of themselves, even if they oppose who they actually are or how they feel. In O’Niell’s case, she felt as though through the process of attempting to gain validate from others, she was no longer portraying how she was actually feeling through these images. In her tell-all video, she described the efforts that would go into making a photo what she thought was perfect. However, in reality the emotions behind the image were different than what was being portrayed. Van Dijck then states that “connectivity derives from a continuous pressure — both from peers and from technologies — to expand through competition and gain power through strategic alliances” (21). This pressure is what led O’Niell to eventually quit social media all entirely as she felt she was no longer being herself. 

These neoliberal principles surround the notions that we need gratification from others and support the ideology of a social hierarchy. Instagram allows this hierarchy to occur through the amount of followers accounts have and the number of likes they get on their photos. The desire to be at the top is what leads people, like O’Neill, to create these alternative online personas. In an article from NYmag, O’Neill states that “Social media isn’t real. It’s purely contrived images and edited clips ranked against each other … And it consumed me” (Kircher, 2016). This supports neoliberal economic principles in that she was exchanging these images for social gratification. However, through her website O’Neill is protesting this form of online personas and gratification and how they are not true in reality through a website, another form of internet social technology. Due to this, other advocates of social networking were not found of her response. Van Dijck describes that these factors are contributing to the “ecosystem of connective media”. This encompasses the idea in which cultural norms are developed and integrated into social networking and internet activity. In O’Neill’s case, the norms surrounding social validation and hierarchy have been worked into networks such as instagram. 

Works cited

Malone Kircher, M. (2016). Where Are You, Essena O’Neill?. nymag. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/11/esenna-oneill-one-year-after-quitting-social-media.html

Parkinson, H. (2015). Instagram star Essena O'Neill calls out fake social media couples. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/11/instagram-star-essena-oneill-fake-social-media-couples

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