Essena O'Neill was an "Insta-famous" model whose life revolved around social media, her posts, likes and number of followers. After feeling completely unhappy with the social media life she was living, she gave up. Her story is one of truth, bravery and the start of a very important conversation we, as a society, need to have.
Our lives have come to be known as filter names, perfectly staged shots and number of likes.
As sad as it is to say this, it's all too true in our society. As you open up Instagram and scroll through the "explore" page, you see girl after girl sporting a flawless insta pic. Sitting there on the other side of the phone you are meant to believe that these pictures are what beauty is and how beauty should look. As sad as it is, Instagram has taught us that beauty is nothing but filters, staged shots and the most likes.
18-year-old Essena O'Neill once lived like this too.
She was, as we like to call people with thousands of followers, “Insta-famous.”
Her Instagram feed was flooded with pictures of her looking flawlessly gorgeous. She soon became "Insta-famous" with more than half a million followers on Instagram. As her popularity grew, she began to get sponsorship after sponsorship. She soon had so many sponsorships she could support herself off of them and was even getting offers to model in L.A.
Social media soon began to run her life.
She was only happy when her posts did well. The more likes, the happier she was. The better the brand deal, the bigger the smile. Her happiness relied on social media.
A long shot at fame.
Her "Insta-fame" went on for over three years. Starting at the young age of 15, she only saw herself worthy by social media acceptance and brand sponsorships. And our society saw nothing wrong with this, continually eating it up.
But, she is now calling it quits on Instagram.
Recently, however, she realized how unhappy her "insta-fame" was making her. O'Neill realized how her obsession with social media was not leading to the authentic life she wanted to live. She went on to say she was quitting all social media accounts. But, not before deleting over 2,000 pictures that she felt served no purpose other than self-promotion and editing others she wanted to use to spread her message.
That fitspo pic you look up to?
O'Neill wrote that all these "fitspo" pictures you see were a result of her engaging in unhealthy eating and exercise habits just to get a picture that showed off the "perfect hot body."
The lighting, the filters, the twisting, it all works in your favor.
Twist your body this way so your abs show more, stand in this room facing this mirror for the best lighting, make sure to suck in. All these things are done on a daily basis from the "fitspos" you see flooding Instagram. It's no longer about the raw image, it's about making your body look the best with filters.
The “candid” shots?
They were all done just for Instagram. That dress she's wearing? O'Neill wrote she didn't pay for it, but instead was sent the dress to wear just for an Instagram picture. She also noted how lonely she felt in the dress.
They’re not really candid.
In fact, many of O'Neill's Instagram posts were sponsored by brands. Each time she posted a picture in a certain outfit, she made money off of it.
They’re completely staged.
This outfit, she admitted, she never even wore out of the house. She simply put it on just to get a picture to post on Instagram.
A perfect selfie came with hours of work.
O'Neill admitted that she would spend hours trying to get the perfect selfie and then spend more time editing it with not just one, but multiple apps.
Only flawless pictures are Insta-worthy.
She talked about how with Instagram and filters, you can get rid of just about any flaw. The more flawless you are, the more likes.
Not only did she vow to end her social media presence, she made a video telling why.
In her video she opens up about why she thinks social media sucks. From girls thinking their worth is based on social media fame to thinking they only mean something if they have a lot of followers and likes, O'Neill spells out what is wrong with social media and our society.
Watch her video "Why I think social media sucks."
After only a few days, her video went viral.
Not just in Australia, where she's from, but it went global, getting picked up by numerous national news sites. She posted a video of herself crying at her gratitude for people and the conversation people are starting. Not only are news sites picking up the story, but other Instagram users with thousands of followers are beginning to talk about it and share their stories.
A start to a very important conversation.
Essena O'Neill's story has provided a huge leap to a conversation that needs to happen: How we use social media, why we use social media and how we can change social media.