Essena O’Neill, the Australian social media influencer, recently decided to 'quit' social media, claiming how “fake” it is and it became a business strategy. In the last video, “Why I REALLY am quitting social media”, she revealed that everything she did on social media was for views, likes, for followers. She initially felt more confident by . Essena reflected her self-worth through the number of views, likes, and followers and let them define her.
Her explanation of how corrupted social media platforms are, fits with the Van Dijck's argument on the concept of neoliberal economic principle in his novel, "The Culture of Connectivity". Van Dijck argues that "connectivity derives from a continuous pressure--both from peers and from technology--to expand through competition and gain power through strategic alliances" (21). Essena kept wanting more and more views, likes, and followers, to gain popularity. In turn, that popularity also made her an earning by supporting companies and advertising. Essena has been supporting these principles since at a very young age before consciously realizing it.
While Essena claims she no longer wants social media to define and control her and be part of their business, it seems to be somewhat contradictory considering that her new blog called "Let's Be Game Changers" has a "support" section, which asks readers to help make her a better platform, video series, and support her book "How to be Social Media Famous" through donation. Isn't Essena supporting neoliberal economic principles...using social media tactics?
Her explanation of how corrupted social media platforms are, fits with the Van Dijck's argument on the concept of neoliberal economic principle in his novel, "The Culture of Connectivity". Van Dijck argues that "connectivity derives from a continuous pressure--both from peers and from technology--to expand through competition and gain power through strategic alliances" (21). Essena kept wanting more and more views, likes, and followers, to gain popularity. In turn, that popularity also made her an earning by supporting companies and advertising. Essena has been supporting these principles since at a very young age before consciously realizing it.
While Essena claims she no longer wants social media to define and control her and be part of their business, it seems to be somewhat contradictory considering that her new blog called "Let's Be Game Changers" has a "support" section, which asks readers to help make her a better platform, video series, and support her book "How to be Social Media Famous" through donation. Isn't Essena supporting neoliberal economic principles...using social media tactics?
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