Essena O'Neil's departure from social media paired with her confession states to prove that virtual reality is in fact not real. (shocker i know). Social media has the ability to truly globalize the world as it is a great means of staying connected with friends, family, people of interest and those within the media at the simple touch of a screen.
O'neil was recognized as Insta famous as she allowed her profile to become a window into a life which was merely a creation. It was a representation of who she wanted to be ultimately dominating her life and well being. She states that she'd go all day without eating simply to look slimmer for a picture that she would try to manufacture at a place that she had no interest in being. The term "do it for the gram" was never more evident than in her case. However when she had enough she took a stance and decided to detox her self of social media and her addiction. By doing she she began to expose her picture along with other "insta famous" models and accounts, and the lengths that she along with others would go through in order to keep their self-manufactured fame.
Van Dick states that "connectivity derives from a continuous pressure" (Van Dijck 2016), pressure from who some may ask? By the fan base which she had built, the fan base that she had manufactured and who yearned for more of her. Her body became her tool of use and her high was her likes, i won't like getting 500 likes on a picture you post makes you feel better than one that gets 50. However the problem lays is when we derive our own self worth from the fake perception we project onto an audience that has no clue who we really are.
I do agree with Van Dijk's theory of neoliberal economics but the way we as users are influenced by our need to want more. Similar to capitalism Social Media has become a thing where what once was isn't enough and we all try to spread our branches and reach as large an audience as possible. Its cool to be wanted, it's cool to be considered liked and popular. The thing that isn't is allowing our lives behind the screen of a device to hurt who we truly are. So shoutout to Essena for making a genuine step in bettering her life
Tuesday, 6 December 2016
CS 371 Social Media and Social Life Blog #1
This is a
link to one of my favourite beauty vloggers BubzBeauty. BubzBeauty started off
as a YouTube channel and it is owned by Lindy Tsang a Chinese-Irish Youtuber
who with her fashion and beauty videos has gained over 2.9 million subscribers.
I particularly enjoy her videos because it always touches base with a lot of
things I seem to be struggling with beauty wise. I keep up with her because she manages to do a lot of DIY projects that are simple and capable of being completed using ingredients available in the everyday household.
BubzBeauty
began as a regular vlogging channel and expanded into more with her website and
merchandise. She found her entrepreneurial success through creating her own
line of clothing and make-up products.
The link to
her YouTube channel is located below:
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.
Insta-Famous, Insta-Forgotten
Van Dijk claims that the culture of connectivity is "derived by a continuous pressure [..] to expand from pressure and gain strategic alliances." This can be seen through endorsements that social media stars face on a daily basis and is also evident through the fake online relationship that was proposed to Essena O'Neil. By connecting online presence's with brands, they are adding their brand to the 'perfect life.' In addition, they are associating a lust over a persons lifestyle with a product. These alliances increases the culture of connectivity because people associate the product with a sense of belonging.
I agree with the statement of Van Dijk's theory of neoliberal economic principles being a part of the culture of connectivity. For example, transferring economic benefit into the public sphere and realm of discussion does not make the social media world truthful to thoughts and opinions. This influences the culture of connectivity as this culture is based on economic benefit which then effects what is posted on social media platforms. The winner takes all mindset comes from who can have the most endorsements, sponsors, followers, and economic benefit through their social media accounts - and thus takes away from their true thoughts and opinions.
If social media was started as a form of participatory media in order for one to share their thoughts and feelings, this space is being highly influenced by what people want to portray and why they like and share what they do.
Monday, 5 December 2016
Essena O'Neil and Van Dijck
After watching Essena O’Neil Youtube video, I think that it is evident that she fosters similar ideologies as presented by Van Dijck conceptualizing neoliberal economic principles of the culture of connectivity of social media platforms. Van Dijck states “connectivity derives from a continuous pressure- both from peers and from technologies- to expand through competition and gain power through strategic alliances.” Therefore, through the uses of social media platforms, people and companies manipulate data/posts with goals of gaining popularity, status, and following. Throughout the video, O’Neil vocalizes her struggles with this exact concept of continuous pressure to update the perfect image from what is seen as her perfect life. She identifies this as not only a problem within herself now, but something that has been with her since she was introduced to social media platforms and their uses. Since she was 12 years old she dreamed of being famous, well know, looked up to the stars on TV and magazines wanting to be like them. Sounds familiar right? This is a problem with youth not only today but for at least a decade now through the introduction of social media. It creates permeant presences and insight into one's life or the life they want people to think they live. Each post she would create would be edited, posed, and filtered to get the perfect and ideal picture that makes her life seem fantastic. She denotes these ideals she possessed through growing up with idolizing celebrities, the economic success of social media platforms, and constantly wanting to be this perfect person she was so familiar with seeing around her.
With this misconception of reality present, people start to question, where is the authenticity? Are we are just puppets for commercialization and commodification participating in each social media platform selling themselves to the world in hopes of being recognized, liked, followed. But what is important to note from O’Neil is that through all this following and popularity, she had never been so miserable and alone. The social media platforms and the ways they are used today, promote the idea of being famous or well known. Both O’Neil and Van Dijck offer real perspectives on the issues social media platforms can create through these popularity norms that have evolved. The users that are engaged with these technologies suffer from peer and technological pressures to be constantly connected and up to date with posts, as well as, posting their own lives for people to interact with. It has merely become a game of who can get the most likes, comments, and followers, but what O'Neil and Van Dijck emphasize is the importance of realizing these are online amenities and not realities. They stray far from authentic daily life and not something people should have to strive for. They are unrealistic ideologies that govern the uses of these technologies and creates social pressures not only online but ones that are also translated into users everyday life. Essna O'Neill's Shift Between Communication Industries
Essna O’Neill’s exemplifies Jose Van Dijk’s characterization of social media to a tee. Essna exhibited the pressure to expand through strategic alliances when her ex-boyfriend had initially suggested that they should date to increase their following and marketability. The competitive and hierarchical ranking mechanisms within the neoliberal economy are exemplified through her situation as she explains, “Companies know the power of social media and they are exploiting it... If you don’t think it is a business you are deluding yourself'. This hints at the fact that the under-the-radar, laissez-faire economy maintains corporate success. The competitive nature is somewhat expressed in her full-length video where she discusses how she saw certain bodies and wanted to look like them, and then she began to do so until she became an icon with many followers, subscribers, and likes.
This brings me to the popularity principle. It’s interesting because some people who protest Essna’s authenticity formed arguments based on the idea that the entire ordeal granted her leverage into an exponentially greater fanbase. She self-identifies as a vegan, which aligns with health and animal rights niches. Some people have suggested that her decision was in the vein of expanding perspectives of health awareness, as body-positive activism.
Is she just shifting her demographic and medium? If she plans to write a satirical book on her experience, is she using her acquired fame to leverage herself in a different industry with a different voice? Could it have become a strategy to gain an identity of a dignified, holier-than-thou, person of experience who left the mainstream only to tap into a market with a different market structure? A book could grant her income years later as opposed to the social media structure where she must constantly be posting? She even admits that she has always dreamed of becoming a writer.
Then again, I am not a social media icon, so I can not claim to know the extremity of the situation. I believe that there was some honesty behind what she was saying, but I also believe that like Kendall Jenner’s recent account deletion, once she feels like she needs social media again, she will be back for more. I mean, her fanbase of vegans were not necessarily bookworms that will be camping outside of Chapters waiting for an undetermined amount of time until her book becomes available. She might make a new and more professional account resembling that of her favourite authors, to symbolize her rebirth in the public eye, with a picture and a caption reading: NEW BOOK COMING TO A CHAPTERS NEAR YOU 💕📚👀
Is she just shifting her demographic and medium? If she plans to write a satirical book on her experience, is she using her acquired fame to leverage herself in a different industry with a different voice? Could it have become a strategy to gain an identity of a dignified, holier-than-thou, person of experience who left the mainstream only to tap into a market with a different market structure? A book could grant her income years later as opposed to the social media structure where she must constantly be posting? She even admits that she has always dreamed of becoming a writer.
Then again, I am not a social media icon, so I can not claim to know the extremity of the situation. I believe that there was some honesty behind what she was saying, but I also believe that like Kendall Jenner’s recent account deletion, once she feels like she needs social media again, she will be back for more. I mean, her fanbase of vegans were not necessarily bookworms that will be camping outside of Chapters waiting for an undetermined amount of time until her book becomes available. She might make a new and more professional account resembling that of her favourite authors, to symbolize her rebirth in the public eye, with a picture and a caption reading: NEW BOOK COMING TO A CHAPTERS NEAR YOU 💕📚👀
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.
Van Dijck, J. (2013). The Culture of Connectivity A Critical History of Social Media. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)