Essena O’Neil and the War on Social Media
A teenage instagram star has removed herself from social media, in what she says is “a wake up call” for her followers about the realities of online life.
Essena O’Neil, 19, had half a million followers on Instagram before she decided to remove the majority of her photos, and edit the remaining photos’ captions to reflect the “real” situations they were taken in.
O’Neil has since privatized her Instagram account, and only one inaccessible photo remains.
The former model aims to reveal the truth about the social media industry, including the immense amount of money social media stars earn for promoting products. O’Neill feels that “social media is not real life”, saying “[she] profited off deluding people.” Recently, in a video posted to her newly reinvented website, O’Neill called out the falseness of online relationships as well. The video, called “Love Gets Likes”, details an instance before she quit social media where she was asked to start a relationship for the purpose of “gaining more followers”.
Though Essena is being hailed as “captivating and thought provoking” many are hesitant to praise her. YouTubers Nina and Randa, who were friends with Essena before she posted her video removing herself from Social Media, called her actions a “hoax” and criticized that she’s still using her website for self promotion. Another criticism of O’Neill is her plea for money, as she “can’t afford to pay rent” after she disconnected herself from her sponsorships.
O’Neill’s statements have created an interesting discussion and inspired responses from internet influencers like Gabrielle Hanna (The Gabbie Show), Meghan McCarthy and Dodie Clark. Despite questions about her personal motives, as a culture we have to examine why we need validation from numbers and likes, and be careful not to let our “need for social approval” harm us.
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