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This Just In: More Personal, Less Social
Did the coronavirus force us into an authentic form of social media?
Five years ago, Essena O’Neill, an Australian teenager, earned $2,000 per post on Instagram. More than 600,000 followers looked at O’Neill for advice and inspiration. Then she abruptly quit social media.
Deleting over 2,000 pictures, O’Neill said social media was “contrived perfection made to get attention.” She ignited a firestorm about the authenticity of Instagram and influencers on the platform.
Today, social media disillusion isn’t big news. There are countless “why I quit social media, and you should too” stories online. Instead of advocating quitting social media outright, I think it’s time we collectively change how we use the tools provided us.
When social media first popped onto the scene, nearly two decades ago, it was inherently social. MySpace, Friendster, and the early iterations of Facebook were designed to leverage our existing social networks and connect each other with newly developed digital tools. It was simple and it worked. And then the advertising people got involved.
All of a sudden, we were encouraged to expand our networks, to follow more people, brands, celebrities — the more accounts the better. As we followed more accounts…
