Update: Essena has now deleted all her social media channels and posted a video asking people to talk about something other than her. In their place, she’s posted Amanda Palmer’s Ted Talk and a documentary on the Bangladeshi factory collapse. Watch this space for what happens next.
By now you’ve seen the above video that Instagram star 18-year-old Essena O’Neill posted yesterday to explain why she’s quitting social media. In it, the Australian model explains that her actions should be a ‘wake up call to anyone who follows me’.
‘I had the dream life,’ she says. ‘I had half a million people follow me on Instagram – to a lot of people I’d made it. I want to tell you that having it all on social media means absolutely nothing to your real life. Everything I was doing was edited and contrived.’
Since the original video, she’s posted another one saying she’s ‘overwhelmed’ by the response and that this is the happiest she’s ever been.
‘I have so many emails from people like Good Morning America, all these massive media outlets that want to talk about the reality behind social media. This is being spread. Young people can find out that the perfect Instagram life.... That is not real.’
Check out more of Essena at Letsbegamechangers.com
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Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.