If you need a little background on this, O'Neill was a very popular Instagram and YouTube personality who "quit social media" after she allegedly had a realization that social media "was an illusion:"
Quote:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/entert...a-oneill-irpt/
(CNN) - Hundreds of likes on an Instagram picture of a perfectly posed, blond woman in a bikini might lead some to believe that she is confident and has a perfect life. But behind the scenes, Essena O'Neill says, she felt like a lost and lonely teenager.
That's what the social media personality wanted her followers and the world of social media to know: What you see on social media isn't always true to life.
The Australian-born model, who has made a career of posting blissful photos of herself in the perfect outfit with the perfect backdrop, surprised her followers when she threatened to deactivate her Instagram account earlier this week.
O'Neill created buzz online after she deleted many of her Instagrams and changed some of her captions to describe how she really felt when the photo was being taken. She edited her posts to reiterate her message: "Social media is an illusion."
O'Neill later deleted her Instagram, YouTube and Facebook pages from the Internet. The accounts were no longer visible as of Wednesday.
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However, some people have reacted to the sudden announcement with fair skepticism. Two sisters who were friends with O'Neill claimed that the move was a publicity stunt.
Quote:
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyl...-call-her-out/
The sisters say that O'Neill met them through social media. They grew close enough that O'Neill stayed with them on her recent trip to L.A. (O'Neill referenced the trip in her first video announcing her plan to abandon social media; she has since taken the video offline). Nina and Randa say that they introduced her to Essena's ex-boyfriend, a subject of discussion in O'Neill's video.
"The reason she is so upset and so down is because of this breakup with this guy," Nina says. "And then she's putting all this blame on social media and that everyone in LA is horrible and cares about fame and depressed, when that's just not true."
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Meanwhile, Zach James, the CEO of social network Rise9, issued his own opinion:
Quote:
Essena O’Neill is wrong; Social Media isn't a lie.
Social Media can be whatever the user desires it to be. Allowing yourself to become pressured into a false life that you're uncomfortable with is the result of your own actions and intent. The inability to define yourself, your life, your own sense of confidence comes from a lack of trying to understand yourself.
Blaming Social Media, calling it a lie, further shows your lack of attempt to understand yourself. Yes, deleting your Social Media is a step in the right direction. Disowning personal responsibility for your own happiness and shifting the blame is a step backwards.
I, and many others, have found a greater understanding of ourselves through our Social Media careers. The ability to explore unlimited opportunities, to create what our hearts desire, to speak with our own true voices. We found ourselves through Social Media because we made that choice to do so.
You decide to take money for a dress? That's your choice. You decide to spend hours taking the right photo? That's your choice. You decide to live a life that you feel is a lie? That is absolutely your choice.
Deciding to use Social Media as a tool to tell people Social Media is a lie contradicts that very same notion. Social Media is there to be used for the truth or for the lies. Essena O'Neill needs to find real help instead of redirecting personal responsibility towards mankind's greatest communication tool.
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So what do you think about this? Do you think there is an ulterior motive, and that this is just clever marketing? Or is O'Neill being genuine and realizing something that we should all consider as we interact through modern technology?
