Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies
teenvogue.com
teenvogue.com
Modeling has its own dark side but it's a job in which you work with co-workers. You're not getting your sister to take the shots. You're not disrupting family life in the same way. You also aren't actually graded on popularity and "likes" in the same way -- your job goes well or poorly and certainly since it's about appearance you get all the food disorders and etc, but there's still a level of remove. Someone else is taking the pictures and telling you what to wear and how to stand. The creative endeavor is not all on you. This girl, by contrast, was not just the person who posed but the one who set up the shots, had the sister take them, watched the "ratings," did the testing on what people liked, etc. On the one hand, that complete "creative control" is cool. On the other hand, she was very literally chasing the approval of others.
I think they probably skimmed right on over some of the really dark parts, like the restricted eating and insecurity that this sort of externalized approval processes would cause in most 15-year-olds. Some of us old people do weird s(tuff) when a high-school reunion is coming up, and we are supposed to be mature and grounded. Haha. But remember, that 15 is definitely an age where you have a somewhat more limited idea of the scope and shape of a good life.
I think it's important to point out that I am an old man, not a teenager, so overdramatizing things doesn't boost my engagement.
(Now, math modeling may become an obsession...)
edit: just to be clear, oldmanjay, I am not making any comments about old guys in general! some of my best friends are old guys!
Becoming a model is an obsession for some young women. For models, it's a gig job, and getting gigs is hard. Only the top 100 or so models worldwide make real money. If you're in LA, you probably know some actress/model/waitress types. I had a friend whose career peak, after years of work, was one McDonalds' commercial that got nationwide distribution.
Below the top tier, the work is not that great. There's trade show work as a booth babe. There's catalog modeling ("OK, the next one is the blue sweater, #6522, and hurry it up, we have 20 more to do before lunch").
Even American literature has way better job security and pension prospects than modeling, though.
I recommend you check out this article about why the creator of Flappy Bird took his game down. [0] Some might say he was just doing game development too.
[0]: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-flight-of-the-b...
But I know enough young people to realize that the social media "like"-fueled bubble she was apparently living in is not unique to her and is surprisingly pervasive/scary among a lot of people her age (even those who aren't "internet famous"). Given that, I totally respect her realizing how superficial it can all be, realizing how misleadingly disconnected from real-life it can be and stepping back and telling her story of what seems like a real social media obsession so that others might step back as well and rethink how they deal with social media.
Nobel prize worthy? No. Of course not. But brave within the context of her life. So kudos, Essena O'Neill, Australian girl I've never heard of but who may have a useful message for others.
i like how journalists pretend old problems are new because magical technology is an intermediate facilitator between the user and their vice.
The reason that most girls will never look that good in photos isn't because they don't take enough shots to get a good one, it's because they're not as good-looking as that girl is to start with.
I thought it was well understood that photography is fantasy-art, instead of documentation.
I suspect the lady will eventually learn about Cambell's Law...
So that's nothing, now?
The goodness or badness of the various revolutions going on is, at best, debatable. I suggest waiting 20 years to collect more data before attempting to debate it though.
This is the ULTIMATE in viral marketing. By removing herself from Instagram, she has done a humble-brag to get attention. By highlighting the issues she has with her quite attractive photos, she actually gets more attention, and can become a thought-leader and thus product pusher for marketing firms.
The difference is that the marketing firms will now be new-age companies. From her info page [1]:
"I wish to create a platform that acts to spread new age messages of conscious living, addition to technology, minimise the celebrity culture, promote veganism, plant based nutrition, environmental awareness, social issues, gender equality, controversial art etc."
Look, I'm probably just cynical, but this seems to be a self-promotion vehicle by an attractive teenage girl.
When it comes to intentionally making people feel bad about themselves, I don't see much of this, since negative advertising is not very popular. Most advertising I see is motivational/aspirational, i.e. showing people an image that people believe they can attain.