The people of today would rather stand next to a man with no substance but covered in gold. What if God was dressed as a carpenter with dirty nails and beaten boots? Only those with truth in them will recognize truth. And you must learn to recognize all that is untrue to get the truth. —Suzy Kassem
I've an over-enthusiastic P.I. friend who digs out sh*t. It was a before picture of that girl. It isn't about going under the knife. But the superficiality that motivates a person to extremes, changing her name to create new identities. It's baffling. Do people not see value in real stuff anymore? I'm glad the fad hasn't effected Singaporeans in entirety. People I know do their eyelids, nose/boob job, a nip tuck here and there. Nothing beyond recognition thank God.
A colleague asked why I haven't been posting. Well, increasingly Instagram's become meh. It was cool. The whole idea got us to collect moments and write a little story. Sadly it has evolved into a platform to substantiate self-worth. So when I read about Essena O'neill, publicity or not I felt she made a really strong stand.
She's the Instagram model with half a million followers who quit Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat overnight. But not before editing the captions on her IG pictures with what's real and what's NOT. You can google it's pretty interesting. Some include how there was always layers of make-up under a 'natural' shot, taking up to 100 photos each time before deciding on 1 shot that would gain most likes, admitting to push-ups and angles framing her body. She went on camera to reveal what social media was to her and many others - highly contrived perfection. She talked about the manipulation, mundanities and insecurity behind. In truth... none of that enviable jet-setting was her actual reality. She urged viewers to question what people promote about themselves online by asking:
If you notice, popular IG accounts mostly shoot 'art' or 'beauty' in some form of narcissism. I don't see why anyone would post 8-9 shots of themselves at the same event. An acquaintance went from 105 to 600 followers in a month (#hashtaglikemad....). Another deletes her post if there aren't likes within an hour. It's all getting a little silly, ain't it?
It's perfectly OK to post selfies when it means something, even if you think it's a good photo of you etc. But if your IG only has close-ups of yourself over and over, cleavage lines, butt/bikini shots and lastly when the sun, sand, sea starts becoming background to your #OOTD, then there is a problem. How do likes in a virtual space translate to being well-liked IRL, and what does a stranger's opinion, all that #igforlikes #sgbabes #fitspo count for in the end?
It is the handful of people we actually did spend time with, and is in touch with the reality of our lives. I guess vanity is in our nature to a certain extent. But when it deceives and you're basically ridding yourself of what's really you, people don't like you. They like what you show.
I'm back to good old Twitter though hehe! It's low-key and words have always inspired me more than photographs. Funny how friends I no longer see on regular media are there as well. (;
What's their intention behind the photo?
If you notice, popular IG accounts mostly shoot 'art' or 'beauty' in some form of narcissism. I don't see why anyone would post 8-9 shots of themselves at the same event. An acquaintance went from 105 to 600 followers in a month (#hashtaglikemad....). Another deletes her post if there aren't likes within an hour. It's all getting a little silly, ain't it?
It's perfectly OK to post selfies when it means something, even if you think it's a good photo of you etc. But if your IG only has close-ups of yourself over and over, cleavage lines, butt/bikini shots and lastly when the sun, sand, sea starts becoming background to your #OOTD, then there is a problem. How do likes in a virtual space translate to being well-liked IRL, and what does a stranger's opinion, all that #igforlikes #sgbabes #fitspo count for in the end?
It is the handful of people we actually did spend time with, and is in touch with the reality of our lives. I guess vanity is in our nature to a certain extent. But when it deceives and you're basically ridding yourself of what's really you, people don't like you. They like what you show.
I'm back to good old Twitter though hehe! It's low-key and words have always inspired me more than photographs. Funny how friends I no longer see on regular media are there as well. (;