The internet is abuzz with the news of famed Australian Instagrammer, Essena O’Neill’s unexpected departure from the world of social media.O’Neill, who had half a million followers on popular social media app Instagram, posted a 17-minute youtube video on Nov. 2nd, entitled “Why I REALLY am quitting social media | The Truth”, to explain the reasoning behind her decision.
Since the age of 12 Essena romanticised those she saw on the internet with small waists and lots of likes, vowing that one day she would follow in their footsteps. She made a career out of social media, spending years perfecting her on-screen aesthetic to appeal to the masses; a job that she truly thought would bring her life value, until she realized that it didn’t.
Even at the peak of her widespread popularity, O’Neill was miserable. Turning her phone off for a week and learning to live without the validation of her “followers” taught her what it really means to live a life full of purpose. She realized that “we are not followers, we are beings of individuality and love.”
In the video O’Neill describes herself as having had a “celebrity mentality” and creating a “celebrity concept of herself online”. In more sociological terms, essentially what O’Neill was doing was paying special attention to the way she was presenting herself, and the expressions she was giving to her audience. From a young age she had a vision of the ideal human in her mind; someone who met often unattainable yet socially accepted standards of beauty, lived lavishly, and had a large following on social media. This idealization led to her obsession with meeting these high standards in an attempt to become the “perfect person” and be held highly in society. O’Neill even claims in her video, that she went as far as to spend hours a day scrolling through her various social media pages and reading through her comments to figure out what type of content her audience seemed to enjoy the most. She used this information to avoid unintentionally giving off certain expressions thus maximizing her number of likes.
O’Neill also speaks of other people she met in the social media industry, specifically her supposedly high-profile but unnamed ex-boyfriend and supermodel/actress Cara Delevingne. Seemingly the three of them lived, what according the the working consensus would define to be, the perfect life but despite being put on a pedestal and receiving widespread praise from society, O’Neill claims that her “success” did not lead hr to happiness. Rather, hidden behind her online persona, was the intense and sometimes debilitating pressure she felt to live up to her name. Even before her instagram days, O’Neill reports feelings of severe insecurity.
In addition to a low self-esteem, O’Neill is speaking out about the emptiness she feels as a result of her social media use for the past few years. Devoting her life to maintaining her celebrity online took away valuable time she could have spent writing, reading, learning, and exploring. However, O’Neill is taking her life back by a storm, and inspiring young people everywhere.
She started by editing the captions on her instagram photos to reveal what was actually going on in or before her photos, whether it be taking hundreds of shots to get the perfect picture or being paid to promote a specific brand.
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| The caption reads "Not real life. Only reason we went to the beach this morning was to shoot these bikinis because the company paid me and also I looked good to society's current standards. I was born and won the genetic lottery. Why else would I post this photo? Read between the lines, or ask yourself "why does someone post a photo... What is the outcome to them? To make a change? Look hot? Sell something? I thought I was helping young girls get fit and healthy. But I only realized at 19 that placing any amount of self worth on your physical form is so limiting! I could have been writing, exploring, playing, anything beautiful and real...Not trying to validate my worth through a bikini shot with no substance #celebrityconstruct" |
In addition to editing the captions on her instagram photos, O’Neill has launched a new website called Let’s Be Game Changers, in which she uses to continue speaking out about her detrimental experience with social media but also to promote positive change and healthy living. Through her website, her fans now have access to hundreds of inspiring ted talks, documentaries, books, recipes, music, and art.
However, for speaking out against the deceitful nature of the social media industry O’Neill has experienced more than her fair share of criticism. Rather, she should be looked up to as an inspiration. Not only is she a godsend for young, insecure people everywhere, but she is working extremely hard to use social media to change the world, rather than submit to it.
I actually saw this article on Facebook recently and was very interested in how O'Neill is using her popularity as an IG celebrity to produce social change. As a user of instagram, I completely know and can relate to the nature of social media that she discusses and criticizes. I've seen my own friends take countless shots of the same picture, try multiple filters and editing features, and even post at a particular allowed time period of the day, just to get more "likes" on a photo. It's ridiculous! I've also read some pieces on the type of reward-system an individual experiences when they receive a high number of likes or comments on a post over social media- its like a reinforcement to their self-worth.
ReplyDeleteIts shocking that so many individuals, most of them being young and at the prime of their social development are measuring their self-value by being rated, judged, and reinforced by others over the internet, most of which are strangers too! She's completely spot-on about how dangerous the social media world can be to a person. More of these IG accounts and models post everyday- creating standards that are unattainable and slowly destroy body-image and confidence in young individuals. It's terrible that kids look at these figures on the internet and think that this is how people really look and live their life, when in reality it takes countless attempts to capture the most perfect moment. It truly is an art-form, and those who have perfected it (such as O'Neill) are creating careers out of it. Yet O'Neill is exposing the lifestyle for what it is behind closed doors- clearly not as glamorous as social media shows it to be.
While I agree with O'Neill's criticism of social media as being contrived, I think this issue falls on the users, not the platforms themselves. All she had to do to create a more open, honest environment on her Instagram account was disclose which posts were paid for and by which brands. It's no secret that many people make money off of Instagram, which I don't see to be a problem. The problem is when these people are dishonest or evasive about their sponsorships, especially when they have young, impressionable followers who may not fully understand this concept or recognize when they are being advertised to.
ReplyDeleteI think O'Neill's decision to quit social media entirely was a bit overly dramatic. Since social media is so prevalent, it could have been more effective for her to continue using it in in a healthier way as an example of how to positively engage with social media. Also, I can't help but note the irony of the fact that O'Neill is now using a website to spread her message. It just goes to show that social media can be a good thing when used to enact positive social change, a key component I believe was missing from her message.
I agree almost entirely. I do also think that the nature of social media falls on the individual and not on the platforms themselves, and I also agree that she COULD have created a more honest instagram persona from the start. However, I think that since she started using social media at such a young age, and looked up to other instagrammers that she didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late. In other words I think she would have been more honest from the start had she realized the implication of her posts sooner. She thought from the beginning that the more likes she had the more validated her existence would be, and until she "had it all" did not realize that this was not the case. She devoted her life to social media, and realized how detrimental it could be to mislead young followers only when she realized that she was misled herself.
DeleteIn addition, if you look into more of her views she herself claims that she believes there is no problem with making money off of social media as long as people are not being dishonest about it, essentially the same argument you are making.
I also agree with you that her exit from social media was overly dramatic. I think she made many brash statements without fully thinking them through or editing herself in the slightest. I think this acts to signify how human she really is. She is imperfect, and that is something I think she wants everyone to understand. She definitely does contradict herself by claiming that she is "quitting" social media and generalizes when she says that all social media "sucks", especially because she still has a huge internet presence. However, I think it is more important to look at her website for what it actually is, rather than get hung up on such an insignificant contradiction. She is now using social media in a healthier way, and is working to promote a healthier and more well-rounded lifestyle than the one that she lived for so many years. And for this, I think Essena deserves support.
It's also important for me to note that I don't think social media sucks. I understand where it can go wrong, but it is also incredibly important in spreading ideas and promoting social change.
I have heard of her story and found it to be interesting. But I don't know if you've heard of the backlash she's recieving. Theres a lot of people critizing her for still exploiting social media through her website. On her site, she asks for money (which goes to her), and is getting paid for using social media platforms which is basically what she did on Instagram but now people are stating that she's using a philosophical or ethical view to just do the same thing she did on Instagram. I do applaud her willingness to speak out about the danger and pressure that is put on girls to be #goals but I also wonder if she would be famous if she wasn't white, blonde, and thin.
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