But the world doesn’t work this way…or at least, before social media existed, it definitely didn’t. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the unachievable standards that Instagram sets.
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But O’Neill’s “crisis of conscience”, as it was described by US Magazine, seems to be extending to more than just the manipulation of social media. “Don’t let anyone sell you something different”. Seemingly effortless shots make their lives look charmed, at the very least.
After three years of posting YouTube videos, Instagram photos and Tumblr posts to more than 500,000 followers, the 18-year-old Australian says she realized the effect that all those likes and clicks had on her – and on social media users in general.
What wasn’t real? O’Neill had the ultimate lifestyle feed, with carefully curated photos that epitomized a well-lived, beautifully maintained life with all its Instagram-ready trappings. “I have created a celebrity mentality of myself online and I wish for that to stop right now”, she announced. Deleted over 2000 photos here today that served no real goal other than self promotion. O’Neill is now reorienting her career to speak about how the creation of this fake persona that was based completely on physical appearance has had a tremendously negative impact on both the perception of her own self-worth as well as starving her from experiencing life outside social media. “Social media, especially how I used it, isn’t real”, she says.
“I have created an image of myself that I think others feel is unattainable, others look at as a role model, others look at as a few type of “perfect human”. It’s perfectly orchestrated, self-absorbed judgement”.
She tells her new readers, “you are a game changer, you might not know your power yet, I am just finding mine, but man. when you do… far out you’ll go insane”. “How can we see ourselves and our true purpose/talents if we are constantly viewing others?” On a post where O’Neill is wearing a bikini, she wrote, “Yet another photo taken purely to promote my 16-year-old body. So I rewrote the captions of these false photos with short shots of reality”. There’s no likes or views or followers there. That’s handsome. Everyone wants to feel valued and loved. How will I spread my message? “Organically. If it moves someone, they tell their friends about it, simple as that”. I’ll be talking about vegansim, creative imagery with objective, poems, writing, interviews with people that inspire me, and of course the finical reality behind deluding people off Instagram…I was so caught up in it all. “This stuff matters – thinking how you want to change the world and make it a better place, that’s what matters”, she goes on to say.
As of this time, her YouTube and Instagram accounts are still running but are reflecting her new outlook on social media, including changing her Instagram captions to “reflect the truth”.
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On a picture of her doing yoga on the beach, O’Neill wrote, “There is nothing zen about trying to look zen, taking a photo of you trying to be zen and proving your zen on Instagram”. She opens the video saying she is deleted all social networks apart from Instagram and YouTube.
