We all know that disgusting feeling we get when we spend hours getting ready and we’re feeling like a million dollars, only for someone to turn around and say ‘are you really wearing that?’ or ‘I think you have too much bronzer on’. It knocks our confidence – even those of us with thick skin. Suddenly you look in the mirror and the dress isn’t nice, the hairs a disgrace and the makeup looks absolutely disgusting… even though you looked the exact same 5 minutes before that with the exact same makeup, hair and outfit. Other peoples’ opinions have so much control over how we see ourselves, even if we don’t want them to.
Luckily for most of us, it’s usually just one comment, once in a blue moon and we can get over it. We might just change the outfit or the makeup but for others, especially those in the public eye, they can’t just escape the constant negative comments. So many women in the public eye have spoken out about it before, such as Khloe Kardashian, Chrissy Teigan and Zendaya – so why are people still so desperate to get their negative opinions out there?
The most recent celebrity to address her trolls was Chloe Ferry. This week Chloe, 22, who is well known for her outrageous antics on Geordie Shore posted an extremely emotional and heart-breaking video to her Snapchat for the whole world to see. This was a far cry from the outgoing, bubbly Chloe that her fans are used to seeing.
“I used to think that I had the best looking boobs ever […] I was so confident” is how the video started but the tone soon changed as Chloe broke down into tears admitting she got an uplift as a result of the insecurity that came along with one person’s comment on an Instagram post saying she had “saggy boobs”. To make it worse, Chloe has been left with a scar that will stay with her forever.
Personally, I don’t understand why people continue to post negative comments and literally ruin young women and mens’ lives with their opinions. While some may say that celebrities put themselves out there and deserve whatever comments they get, I don’t think that just because someone is in the public eye means they should have to put up with others’ negative comments.
Many of us were in secondary school at the time when cyber bullying was taking so many young lives due to sites like Ask.fm. When everyone grows up a bit and heads to college, we don’t see that happening as much anymore. We think that only 13 year-old girls do the whole online throlling thing. However, we couldn’t be more wrong.
Everyday hundreds of trolls on social networking sites are getting a thrill out of telling people their opinions under photos and other posts. There are still no answers to the most common questions that are asked: If you don’t like looking at someone’s pictures or posts or snapchat stories- why don’t you just unfollow them? Why does anyone feel that they have the right to knock others’ confidence and self-esteem?
Using social media platforms to put themselves and their brands out there can have huge advantages for celebrities all over the world, and pictures, tweets and posts can make you extremely jealous of the lives they live. But when you look past the red carpets and the sunsets in Bora Bora, is it really a life you would want to live? Receiving criticism on how you look or how you act on a day-to-day basis, and feeling like the only option is to pay to change how you look. Just to keep a few trolls from commenting horrible opinions?
Unfortunately for Chloe Ferry, the feeling of beating the trolls turned into feeling like she’d given into them. A part of her body that once made her feel confident now fills her with regret. I would love to believe that Chloe’s devastating Snapchats could help put an end to online trolling and hate, but I think it’ll take a lot more than the Kardashians, Rihanna and a few Geordie Shore girls to make the trolls log off.