You may or may not have heard of her, but with over 1,000,000 followers on Instagram and counting, Socality Barbie is making waves. A self proclaimed “adventurer”, dedicated to an “authentic” life style, it’s not surprising that hipster Barbie’s Insta is blowing up — but probably not for the reason you think.
Courtesy: Instagram
What is Barbie doing on Instagram? To understand how Socality Barbie’s insta was born, we first have to dig deeper into our generation’s relationship with social media. Let’s face it – social media permeates our culture. It’s a part of billions of people’s everyday lives worldwide. There are approximately 7.2 billion people living on Earth today, and of that colossal 7.2 billion, nearly a third are active social media users. Let that sink in. In the United States alone, a whopping 74% of all Internet users have active social media accounts. That’s nearly three fourths of our nation checking in on Four Square, expressing themselves within a 140 character limit or checking their Instagram accounts at any given time. What’s more is that of that 74% using social media in the United States, nearly 90%, are made up of people ranging from ages 18-29. (That’s us, guys!) If you weren’t convinced social media plays an active role in shaping millennial culture, those stats probably have you thinking.
There have been many debates and much research done about the effects of social media on popular culture. And like with most things, there’s some good and some bad that comes with the ability to instantly express yourself and connect with others across the globe in seconds. For instance, a moment of anger can become immortalized on the Internet forever, but conversely, grassroots social activism movements like #BlackLivesMatter have a platform to reach millions in that very same moment. It’s a give-and-take relationship when it comes to social media.
Courtesy: Instagram
There’s an immediate sense of gratification that comes with each one of those double taps—it’s a natural impulse. Everyone wants to feel loved, accepted, and well-liked. However, when posting pictures becomes less about remembering people, places and special events, and more about getting the “perfect” picture or the “cutest” selfies, and about those coveted likes piling up, we have a problem. There’s a lack of authenticity, reality and originality amongst our generation’s uploads. How often have you scrolled through your phone and seen nearly identical pictures, outfits or captions from different people? Let’s get real here: we all have seen some basic stuff on Instagram; pictures of people doing yoga who we know aren’t into that ancient (and awesome) practice, pictures with titles like: “‘Spontaneous’ Trip to ____” (Super spontaneous. Sure.), or my personal favorite, “Not All Who Wander Are Lost.” Socality Barbie’s Instagram isn’t actually about your favorite childhood toy grown up, it’s about trying to make a point: our generation has a serious problem with authenticity. And it’s hurting us.
Courtesy: Instagram
There’s nothing original, deep or true about pretending to be into hiking, records, traveling, being “involved” in important issues, or anything else for that matter, but not doing any of those things. In fact, there’s something seriously wrong with that. Our generation is living in a unique time in history, the world is changing rapidly, and we get to decide how. It’s unbelievably important to make an effort to understand other cultures, seek knowledge, take care of our bodies, immerse ourselves in the key issues of our day so that we can be better people, be healthier people and be more informed altogether. Let’s make no mistake: hiking, yoga, records and believing in your political efficacy are wonderful and promising things. But here’s the catch: only if you really care about them. Pretending to do things or be into stuff only so you can snap photo undermines people who actually put time, energy and value into those very movements and activities. Beyond the lack of originality and authenticity slowly oozing its way into our generation, there’s an even bigger problem we’re ignoring with each upload, tweet and check in: we’re focused on the wrong things, and harming our future by our own apathy! Do we really need more people living “authentic” lives and posing for Insta fame or don’t we actually need more of our generation thinking about the issues which will affect us, our children and our children’s children?
And if we’re being completely honest with ourselves, who isn’t tired of seeing the same generic pictures?
Courtesy: Instagram
Socality Barbie’s account hits home for a lot of millennials. No one likes to be called out, but let’s face it: we all know someone who professes a deep “wanderlust” but not an interest in understanding or experiencing another culture, someone who claims to live “authentically,” but wouldn’t know how to dress themselves if Tumblr didn’t exist.
So let’s cut the bullsh*t millennials, and resist the urge to double tap that obviously “candid” “spur of the moment” adventure picture and actually start living the life we like, or atleast keeping it real when it comes to our post about our life.