You might’ve heard the buzz surrounding 18-year-old Instagram star Essena O’Neill who recently quit social media. Despite having over 800,000 followers on Instagram and a prominent presence on YouTube and Tumblr, the Australian teen made the decision to delete all of her social media accounts and exposed the negative effects of being so consumed in social media. She talks about the unrealistic and sometimes unobtainable expectations of beauty perpetuated by the media.
Her speaking out gained much support and garnered attention from many media outlets such as Elle Magazine, The Today Show, and the New York Times. However, there were others who spoke out in favor of social media, claiming O’Neill’s message was either “dramatic” or fake. Despite how you feel about her testimony, there’s a bigger picture that should be discussed.
It is no secret that our media plays a large part in creating a particular image of beauty. In my own experiences, there is this overwhelming pressure to post the best Instagram pic or selfie for Snapchat, or to even look good at any given moment you see a camera, just in case that picture ends up somewhere on social media. It can honestly be so damaging to one’s psyche and self-esteem. And when I think about the number of people who will completely change their diet and exercise just to achieve a certain body type they saw on Instagram or save up their paychecks to splurge on a wardrobe similar to what they saw on their newsfeed is completely mind-blowing!
The saying goes, “pics or it didn’t happen." Well, it did and it can. Our lives are more than just pictures we take or the catchy captions we come up with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that social media is a bad thing; it’s just important to keep in mind how we use it and to never let it consume our lives. The best part of living is living and not every moment has to be captured on film. Some of the best moments can be savored in your memory and in the memories of those you choose to spend it with. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr are all very genius inventions because the platforms allow you to share part of yourself to the world (especially those who can’t always be around you), but the key word here is "part."
The last thing I’ll leave you with are paraphrases from two of O’Neill’s edited captions on her Instagram photos. One she captioned it with revealing that she had gone without eating for that day in order to look good in her picture. In another, she stated that she stood in a particular way to make it seem like she had a thigh gap. This was Essena’s reality, and to be honest, this is a reality for many trying to achieve her look or the look of other influential girls on social media. Enjoy living in the 21st century where we have such awesome technology like Twitter and Instagram because it’s fun, but don’t let them destroy you. We each deserve to enjoy living our lives and being the best version of ourselves, and that's something that cannot and is not defined by the number of likes we get on a picture.
