- Essena O'Neill
This week Australian blogger Essena O'Neill is making headlines for taking a stance against social media, specifically, how bizarre it is to base our self-esteem on the number of followers and likes that one has garnered across Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Snapchat (and any other social media platforms).
Essena O'Neill is an Instagram "It" girl known for her posts of beautiful personal style photos (think gorgeous settings, bikini body, on-trend dresses and statement accessories). Something has now made this girl do a 180 and come out with a vocal statement about how social media is not "real life" and how she got so caught up in the number of likes and followers that it was messing with her sense of self-esteem and making her question why she was so focused on insta-fame in the first place. Big questions to pose indeed.
I first came across her video on the Fashion Law. At first, I thought this looks like the rant of a girl who has achieved fame and success way too easily. Here she is having found fame through social media at the age of 16, earning $$$ through each Instagram post and receiving countless free products and endorsements to supplement her modelling contract, all because she was showcasing her good genes across various social media platforms. Then 2 years later she turns around and decides nup, this is bull****.
But as I listened to her more, I started to see a girl who is struggling with her sense of self-esteem, her self-worth and her body image. Someone who is crumbling under the "pressure" of being famous on social media. As trivial as this may sound, there is nothing that can keep a person trapped in a state of frustration and confusion than their own demons. Something must have happened in her life to give her this wake up call, but whatever that may be, Essena has now done something that no other blogger to date has done - be candidly honest about the impact of broadcasting artificially created imagery on one's body image and sense of self-worth.
Listening to Essena talk about how she now feels about social media, I couldn't help but also start questioning about what social media was doing to each and every one of us.
To be honest, how many of us have not been affected by what we see on social media? As a lover of Instagram and someone who has been on Instagram since 2011, looking at images of bikini perfect bodies swanning around in amazing locations wearing gorgeous outfits on a daily basis is enough to make even the strongest woman doubt herself and look negatively upon her own self-worth. Let alone a teenager who is still trying to find out who she really is. While I personally do not chase after numerical targets for the number of social media followers across my accounts, I have at times found myself wondering: if I was skinnier, wore more makeup and posted more photos of myself, would that increase my Instagram following or blog readership? Conversely, why would I be spending all this time dressing up and taking photos, other than to get more "likes" from people that I've never met?
But as I listened to her more, I started to see a girl who is struggling with her sense of self-esteem, her self-worth and her body image. Someone who is crumbling under the "pressure" of being famous on social media. As trivial as this may sound, there is nothing that can keep a person trapped in a state of frustration and confusion than their own demons. Something must have happened in her life to give her this wake up call, but whatever that may be, Essena has now done something that no other blogger to date has done - be candidly honest about the impact of broadcasting artificially created imagery on one's body image and sense of self-worth.
Listening to Essena talk about how she now feels about social media, I couldn't help but also start questioning about what social media was doing to each and every one of us.
To be honest, how many of us have not been affected by what we see on social media? As a lover of Instagram and someone who has been on Instagram since 2011, looking at images of bikini perfect bodies swanning around in amazing locations wearing gorgeous outfits on a daily basis is enough to make even the strongest woman doubt herself and look negatively upon her own self-worth. Let alone a teenager who is still trying to find out who she really is. While I personally do not chase after numerical targets for the number of social media followers across my accounts, I have at times found myself wondering: if I was skinnier, wore more makeup and posted more photos of myself, would that increase my Instagram following or blog readership? Conversely, why would I be spending all this time dressing up and taking photos, other than to get more "likes" from people that I've never met?
Earlier this week at lunch, one of my girlfriends was saying how these days she can't keep track of what's going on across all these social media platforms, and that instagram has even taken to sending her emails to lure her back onto it once in a while. I then started recommending that she block out "social media time" each day, a strategy that I found quite useful in finding 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (yes in that order).
But today, I sit here and ponder about all this time that I've spent on social media. Was it worth it? How much happiness has looking at the number of likes and followers accompanying bloggers and their pretty photos have actually brought me? Is my time better spent elsewhere, perhaps engaging with people in real life, finding experiences that will actually have a meaningful impact on my mind, or even just daydreaming?
The irony with all this is, while Essena O'Neill was able to achieve half a million followers and become an Instagram "It" girl through her photos, she now, no doubt, has a broader global following by openly rejecting social media.
Such is life in the 21st century.
xoxo
Such is life in the 21st century.
xoxo
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