I came across a Tumblr text post recently, formatted as a “chat.” It read:
Me: *Texting my mom that I love her and that I hope she has a great day*
Some middle-aged artist across the street: *sees that I’m on my phone and creates a whole art piece about how cell phones are sucking the souls out of people and are the root of all evil*
The last generation has always been quick to condemn Millennials — writing us off as “those teenagers” with our heads ducked, eyes glued to our screens, barely uttering a word to one another. “Those teenagers” that text one another when they’re only a few feet away and ooze narcissism with each selfie they upload.
And with this cliché comes a lot of criticism of social media.
We’re the generation that bases our social validation off “likes.” We’re the generation that has to post a picture of our brunches because, if we don’t document it, did we really eat it? We’re the generation that obsesses over Instagram filters and compulsively comments #goals on celebrities’ photos.
The psychological impact of technology and social media has long been hotly contested—and, if you ask me, beaten to death. I mean, we get it: times are changing, and this generation is communicating in ways never before seen — in ways that are, for some adults, incomprehensible.
But, just recently, a social media celebrity stunt brought to light a dark side of social media that’s been kept relatively under the radar.
Essena O’Neill, an Australia-born 19-year-old social media sensation — with over a million followers on Tumblr, Instagram, and YouTube (among other platforms) — decided to “quit” social media, claiming it wasn’t “real life.”
Essena proceeded to delete over 2,000 Instagram posts and edit the captions of what little photos remained, revealing the hidden costs of each photo (both monetary and psychological).
Her photos — which had once depicted an idealized, carefree, and radiant lifestyle — turned out to be the furthest thing from candid. What seemed like genuine, spontaneous photos turned out to have taken hundreds of shots, and, on top of that, deliberately designed to seamlessly promote a product.
Essena’s promotions weren’t overt. She would post a seemingly candid photograph highlighting her vibrant white smile, bronzed skin, and slender physique. Although she would be wearing a specific swimwear or clothing brand, her caption would include a little excerpt about her day or a short, catchy statement. Of course, Essena tagged the clothing brand, but these plugs for businesses remained relatively obscure and never seemed like a big deal. But, as it turns out, they were.
According to Essena, she could make “$2000 AUD a post EASY,” making Instagram one of her main sources of income.
Now, what could the downside of this possibly be? How could she have given this all up?
Essena claims these images were “contrived” and “fake,” condemning her own social media accounts for selling a staged perfect life. In her early teen years, Essena admits to having felt inadequate in comparison to images of thin and conventionally beautiful women, which she would save on her phone for “inspiration.” From constantly viewing these model-esque photos, she felt not only a discontent with herself but also a burning desire to achieve an idealized appearance. This unfortunately led to meal restriction, excessive exercise, and a dependency on social media “likes” and views for validation.
“I no longer want to spend hours and hours of my time scrolling, viewing and comparing myself to others,” she said, urging other teenagers to log off and follow in her footsteps.
And, while I do applaud Essena for taking a stance against body image issues, I don’t think we should condemn social media as a whole. It’s a fundamental human tendency to display our best selves — social media doesn’t so much trigger this as it does facilitate it.
Instead, we must change our use and perception of social media, for it is an incredible medium with which to pursue marketing, connect with friends, and engage with the world.
Rather than entirely swear off social media, we, as viewers, must begin (if we haven’t already) to perceive images with a grain of salt. We must realize that these deliberate forms of self-promotion are merely others’ highlight tracks rather than their behind-the-scenes.