Essenna O'Niel was one of those cases where we wouldn't expect from a "celebrity", whether Hollywood, YouTube superstar to a Instagram celebrity to hit the front pages on a sensitive note.
Its no surprise that the strive to achieve that "perfection" in the fashion and modeling industry is a brutal and depressing adventure, where fortune and fame come at a cost, and that cost is the path through to get there and that the "winner mindset" isn't what its all cracked up to be (21).
Essena's actions and reasons behind her departure from her fame can be related to Van Dijks concept of the neoliberal economic principles. "Connectivity derives from a continuous pressure—both from peers and technologies" (21). In Essena's case, the followers on her Instagram and the app itself as the technology. With Instagram as the distributer of her pictures and the digital editing capabilities we have on computers, this technology can be used to exploit her Instagram account, making Essenna famous, the companies get free exposure, and the viewers get a taste of what a perfect figure should be like.
Essena's argument certainly does have merit being how people are all having the need to be connected. Its only human that we have the desire to be social creatures and social media takes that to the next level with not just a group of friends, but having hundreds to thousands of followers. This hierarchal approach can fill in something that we desire, popularity and fame, but as Essena realized, it comes at a cost (21).
Does Dijk's model apply? To an extent, it certainly does, paving some basics behind Essenna's motives. However it doesn't really define why everyone uses social media, nor Essenna's underlying point behind her message. In reality, Essenna's message to everyone should come at no surprise. To me, its another person demonstrating something that in the back of most consumers mind already know, the fashion industry is a distasteful, evil and dark industry to play in. People watch and want you for how you look, not who you are, and I think this is Essenna's way of, politely trying to express it without making it obvious of something we all know. Her message gained attention and popularity because its not something we all think of, and was a kick in the consumers mind about the reality of what those pretty ladies on covers, ads etc really go through, and that as consumers, we should be grateful we don't go through the horror they are put through, from the path to get there, to the photoshopped images that show they still "aren"t perfect".
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