... are you kidding me? She claimed that "social media is not real" and it is "evil" yet she's writing a book on how to become everything that claims she hated about her life. Admittedly, she states that she is exposing a lot of "behind the scenes" information that ultimately does not shed a positive light on social media corporations, and all of those involved, but that still does not take away from the fact that she has her own website titled www.essenaoneill.com in which she is participating in what Jose Van Dijck calls a culture of connectivity, and is demonstrating that she is still consumed in being apart of a "sharing culture." The website domain name was recently changed from www.letsbegamechangers.com to her own name where she posted content on things she passionate about like veganism but also straight up asked for monetary support... kind of fishy if you ask me. Although she may not be portraying the same image that she was before Essena is still decently active on YouTube and keeps up with her website - which generate her a profit at the end of the day.
Do you believe that Essena O'Neill has genuine intentions with her book release or that she's merely taking on a new neoliberal economic project (having a career within the capitalist social-media driven society)? Do you think a lot of people will buy her book and be satisfied/disappointed with the content? Would you agree that Essena O'Neill is participating in a culture of connectivity?
Essena O'Neil could have potentially created one of the best marketing schemes. O'Neil, an immensely popular online celebrity up and quit her career path. She came out with a brief description of the "horrible" and "controlled" life that she lives. She claims that her new book with give users an insight into her life, as if the public did not already know enough. O'Neil now has an almost global awareness after she removed herself from the internet taking down images and deleting her social media profiles.This stunt set her up for a crowd that she could capitalize on by publishing her story in the form a a book and selling it to the individuals who were shocked as to why she did what she did. With the kind of awareness that O'Neil gained, many will be want to find out the "real" story. Although O'Neil claims she is removing herself from the capitalist society that she had once lived in, she just appears to be setting herself up to head right back. If indeed her book is a success, which I think it will be among not only her followers but individuals who heard about the shocking story of a girl quitting the dream life.
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ReplyDeleteThe more I have started to learn about Essena O'Neil the more I feel that her actions have been a ploy for stardom. I feel that she has profited by talking about an issue that almost all people on social media have experienced and that is the anxiety associated with sharing parts of our lives online. After claiming that she is disappearing from social media because of its negative effects, coming out with a 'how to' book seems very counterproductive.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question I do not feel that Essena's intentions are genuine with the launch of this book. I think that the people interested in becoming famous on social media will be satisfied with the content of her book, however, I find it unfortunate that becoming famous on social media is such a prominent wish today.