Instagram star Essena O’Neill quits, says her whole social media self was faked

Essena O’Neill, an Instagram and social media star from Australia, has quit social media. The model gained fame with her glamorous photos, but she says that many of them were faked and edited most of the captions.

Last week, O’Neill posted a drawing of a person with a TV replacing the head. In the TV, the message reads “We are a brain-washed generation.” In her caption, she wrote about how she was quitting all the social networks she used and deleted over 2,000 photos.

“Without realising, I've spent majority of my teenage life being addicted to social media, social approval, social status and my physical appearance. Social media, especially how I used it, isn't real,” O’Neill wrote. “It's contrived images and edited clips ranked against each other. It's a system based on social approval, likes, validation in views, success in followers. It's perfectly orchestrated self absorbed judgement. I was consumed by it.”

O’Neill kept many of her memes up. In between them are the photos that made her famous. But these images have new captions which explain the realities. In one image, she wrote that she was wearing a dress she didn’t pay for and that she “took countless photos trying to look hot for Instagram.”

https://instagram.com/p/o9zjH4tDVO/

On another photo, she claimed she was paid $400 to take a picture wearing the dress. The image shows her in front of a beautiful forest.

“Nothing is wrong with accepting brand deals,” she wrote. “I just think it should be known. This photo had no substance, it was not of ethical manufacturing (I was uneducated at the time). SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT REAL is my point. Be aware what people promote, ask yourself, what's their intention behind the photo?”

https://instagram.com/p/oc4moYtDUF

O’Neill also launched a website called LetsBeGameChangers.com, where she just posted a video in tears, noting that she was completely shocked by the positive reacions to her decision.

“Never did I think this would be shared so globally,” she wrote. “I have so much I want to say and talk about. Thank you to all these media outlets for helping start this discussion. I am so so so grateful. I'm crying because I needed to hear this when I was younger, heck anyone who spends hours and hours on a screen wishing they could have a 'perfect' life, this is for you.”

She also posted another video on YouTube, explaining how people can make money by taking advantage of social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhlUprSpms

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