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Essena O’Neill: Shocking Departure From Social Media Inspires Other Insta-Celebs To Get Real

Essena O’Neill, lovely Australian Instagram model, shocked the world of social media recently when she began editing captions of photos from her incredibly popular account to describe the real s...
Essena O’Neill: Shocking Departure From Social Media Inspires Other Insta-Celebs To Get Real
Written by Lacy Langley
  • Essena O’Neill, lovely Australian Instagram model, shocked the world of social media recently when she began editing captions of photos from her incredibly popular account to describe the real story of what was going on or what she felt at the time.

    That not being good enough, Essena O’Neill later deleted all of her social media accounts including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, just everything.

    The surprising part is that Essena O’Neill had actually made quite a successful career, for a 17-year-old, with paid ads off of her Instagram account.

    Essena O’Neill then created a website, completely non-profit, to share her real-life interests and to campaign against the false reality of social media.

    Be warned: There is some language that is NSFW.

    Now, the anti-social media movement created by Essena O’Neil is picking up traction as other social media celebs follow suit.

    Alexandra Harvey, a student at the University of Birmingham, was in the same situation as Essena O’Neill. A popular Instagram model, Harvey had over 6,000 followers and an income from modeling various products.

    Harvey then posted this pic, picking up the hashtag #SocialMediaIsNotRealLife.

    Another model, Callipoe, also joined Essena O’Neill’s movement, posting real and untouched photos of herself along with a good message.

    @essenaoneill's message is an important one but one that, I hope, we all already know. You are not your follower count. No one has a perfect life. We spend too much time connecting with people across the globe than connecting with those in the same room. #socialmediaisnotreallife While I don't agree with Essenia's complete demonization of social media or the sweeping generalizations she makes I think that the #flauntyourflaws movement is extremely important so here is a picture with absolutely no editing and #nomakeup Here are my lack of eyelashes, my over plucked eyebrows, the bags under my eyes from not sleeping for almost two years, and my crazy frizzy hair that I hated all of my childhood and into most of my early adulthood. If at any point you find that the things you spend your time and energy on are toxic to you personally, please cut them out of your life but the thing is, for me anyway, the Internet is actually one of the places that I learned to love the things that made me unique instead of feeling pressure to look or act like someone else. (@suicidegirls played a big roll in this) I think I would be straightening my hair to this day if there weren't so many galleries and websites and groups about people embracing and loving their natural curls. I might have been ashamed for my small breasts bc main stream media glorifies boob jobs but I found out how many people love them… Or just don't care (if you have a boob job and it makes you feel good I think that is great). Because of the Internet I've been able to connect with people and feel a sense of community and understanding that I didn't always feel with the people around me (especially as a teenager). The Internet and social media have made my world bigger by giving me instant access to people from all different walks of life. It has helped me follow specific interests that weren't always covered in school. It has helped me explore my sexuality. It has acted as a way to easily remain close with even my very best childhood friends who are now hundreds of miles away scattered across the west coast. Basically #ilovetheinternet and think that like all things, it is what you make of it. Anyway if you

    A photo posted by @localsparrow on

    What do you think about Essena O’Neill’s anti-social media movement?

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