Essena O’Neill was your average 18-year-old, social media star — the newest form of celebrity; she was “Instagram famous.”
Like most “Instagram celebrities,” she shared paid for posts, promoted products for fees and posted nearly perfect selfies for her almost 650 thousand folloers to like and comment on.
However, unlike most “Instagram celebrities,” O’Neill went rogue.
Last week, the Australian native overhauled her social media accounts, renaming her Instagram “Social Media Is Not Real life,” deleting thousands of photos and changing her picture captions to transparent posts about what it took to get the perfect shot, Sunshine Coast Daily, a local newspaper reports.
“I’ve spent the majority of my teenage life being addicted to social media, social approval, social status and my physical appearance,” O’Neill wrote in one of her re-vamped post. “[Social media] is contrived images and edited clips ranked against each other. It’s a system based on social approval, likes, validation in views, success in followers. It’s perfectly orchestrated self-absorbed judgment.”
In another post, O’Neill gives her followers a behind the scenes look at what it really takes to get the perfect bikini picture.
“NOT REAL LIFE – took over 100 similar poses trying to make my stomach look good. Would have hardly eaten that day. Would have yelled at my little sister to keep taking them until I was somewhat proud of this. Yep so totally goals,” she captioned the photo, referencing a popular hashtag for Instagram users who aspire to be or have what they see in a photo.
Among other things, O’Neill calls out what she sees as deceit when “Instagram celebrities” share ads that are not labeled as such.
“Was paid $400 to post a dress. That’s when I had maybe 150k followers, with half a million followers, I know of many online brands (with big budgets) that pay up to $2000 per post,” she captioned a staged photo of herself sporting a striped, mini dress. “Nothing is wrong with accepting brand deals. I just think it should be known.
“This photo had no substance, it was not of ethical manufacturing (I was uneducated at the time). SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT REAL is my point. Be aware what people promote, ask yourself, what’s their intention behind the photo?
Since moving away from manipulated and produced photo sharing, O’Neill has started a new website titled “Let’s Be Game Changers.” Her goal for the new website is to inspire change and features makeup free videos set to a seemingly uncontrived living room backdrops — a far cry from her original Instagram posts.
“I can’t tell you how free I feel without social media,” O’Neill wrote on the website. “Never again will I let a number define me. IT SUFFOCATED ME. I know you didn’t come into this world just wanting to fit in and get by.
“You are reading this now because you are a game changer, you might not know you power yet. I am just finding mine, but man…when you do…far out you’ll go crazy. It’ll be brilliant. You’ll be brilliant.”
—Naja Rayne
