Social media in the 21st century has had the ability to not only share information, advance popular culture, but has been used strategically by many evoke change and start conversations. In the case of Essena O'Neil coming to the realization that she is rejected Instagram culture and shedding light on the truth of this false sense of identity, it raises questions whether her own status and influence feed right back into this socialist and classist ideals.
For example, O'Neil is not the first to speak out against Instagram's false sense of perception, but she may be one of the first Instagram celebrities to reject the very narratives that brought her fame and popularity. I applaud her for "seeing the light" and going against the grain but Van Dijk's idea of "neoliberal economic principles" hold true in the sense that social media privileges and gives social status and power to those who meet the image. Therefore, O'Neil's message was better received by society because of her privilege and position in society.
Van Dijk states, “Connectivity derives from a continuous pressure—both from peers and technologies--to expand through competition and gain power through strategic alliances. Platform tactics such as the popularity principle and ranking mechanisms […] are firmly rooted in a ideology of that values hierarchy, competition and a winner take all mindset,” (21).
Meaning that though her message still holds value, we must challenge the ways in which messages are often only accepted by those in positions of power.
Good post Janaya! I like how you recognize both ends of the spectrum when discussing Essena O'Neill's recent social media activity (or lack thereof). It was also a great use of terminology when you mentioned socialist and classist ideals, your elaboration was concise and makes sense. I wonder if Essena O'Neill is getting the same amount of support on social media given her new take on internet culture/culture of connectivity- or if she's not receiving as much support as she had hoped? (Seeing as unsupportive notions seem to be of popular opinion in our own class)
ReplyDeleteI really found it interesting when you mentioned that O'Neil was probably one of the first "Instagram celebrities" who brought to light all the very calculated methods she would use and was told to us to bring her fame and to up her follower count. I really thought that it was a great thing to mention, especially because she of course is not the first person to speak about about the false sense of reality of social media enables. As Heather mentioned, you did a great job of taking your stance of O'Neil's exit off of social media while applying Van Dijck's theory of neoliberal economic principles in a clear and concise way. I also liked how you ended off your blog post with a statement which provokes the class to think about our social media usage and the ways in which things are presented to us on various platforms and for whom.
ReplyDeleteReally great post Janaya! I found it really great that you shed some light on the opposing argument to O'Neil "quitting social media". You made a really great point that due to her social media celebrity status, her message was most definitely better received. You also did a great job at connecting this weeks blog post to the readings of Van Djick, and that we must challenge/question the messages we receive when tactics such as the 'popularity principle' are being used as leverage. I now wonder if O'Neil's movement to quit social media has come to influence any other social media influencers? Since Essena 'came out' I haven't heard of anyone else following her motion - I wonder if her quitting social media had any effect on any other individuals in power.
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