UPDATE: Between the time I did this post yesterday and today Essena ONeill deleted her Instagram account, so I did my best to piece all the Instagram post back together. I think I did a pretty accurate job but don’t hang me if I jacked one up. During my search to piece it back together I also found a few new posts.
Instagram Model Essena O’Neill Reveals Truth Behind Social Media Photos
Essena O’Neill, a stunning 18 year-old model from Queensland, Australia, has almost one million followers combined from her Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, but is willing to give it all up for the sake of peace of mind. She was making tons of money from modeling bikini, yoga pants and dresses, but the experience left her feeling “hollow”, she said. Her Instagram showed “the perfect life.” Take photos of your everyday life and post them to social media. Well after three year of lies and deceit, O’neill has come forward in a strong and powerful way telling the real truth. She has edited some of her Instagram photos and being brutally honest about them: How many shots it took to take get the right photo, how she couldn’t eat to look thin, how she didn’t pay for the dress she had on but rather was paid to model it. O’neill says: “Without realizing, 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. It’s a system based on social approval, likes, validation in views, success in followers. It’s perfectly orchestrated self absorbed judgement.”
