4 Irish Instagrammers On The Pressures Of Social Media

Last week, 19-year old Aussie Instagrammmer Essena O’Neill deleted her social media accounts (along with her half a million followers) to make a point about the ‘falseness’ portrayed on sites like Instagram and Twitter.

Re-captioning hundreds of her pictures with the hashtag #NotRealLife, she wanted to reveal what really goes into taking the perfect selfie and maintaining an impeccable online brand.

Reactions were mixed, with many coming out in support of Essena for lifting the lid on the behind the scenes of social media, while others questioned her motives.

Though Essena’s story went viral, she’s certainly not the first to reveal what it’s like to live out your life online.

We take a look at some of the things our favourite Irish Instagrammers have said about the pressures of social media and maintaining an online image.

Suzanne Jackson

Speaking specifically about Essena O’Neill Suzanne said, “I actually had a chat with my friend about this and we all agreed that she was right in some of what she was saying, there was a grain of truth there. We all look at these perfect girls on Instagram and think they have the most perfect lives. I could see there is some truth in it. You’re thinking, ‘There’s no way she just ate that.

“I used to be a model so I used to be very image conscious but now I’m in my 30’s, I embrace real life. I wouldn’t be there making myself look perfect but I used to be a model so I just know my angles and lighting. Straight away, if I see an image, I can tell exactly how it’s been edited.”

Rosie Connolly

For full time blogger Rosie Connolly social media is a 24/7 commitment. “Snapchat’s now something I focus on daily,” she told us in the October issue of the mag. “I try to snap from early in the morning, right into the evening, if I can. People want to know what I’m doing. I feel like I’m not giving them enough If I don’t snap throughout the day – with Instagram and Facebook, I update them two to three times a day. For Instagram, I try to get a good shot. Snapchat is the, “ah, here you go, I didn’t think about that one.”

Holly Carpenter

“I’m a self-confessed social media addict and Instagram is definitely my favourite app,” Holly revealed in her column in The Sun. “I have a lot of young girls who follow me and I feel I have a responsibility to be honest with them.”

She continued, “I feel like it would be wrong of me to put up a photo of myself that I have edited and filtered and then say I was wearing no make-up. Then girls would look at themselves and think, ‘why doesn’t my skin look like that without any make-up? She looks perfect without even trying’, which wouldn’t be true.”

Speaking to VIP Magazine in September, she said, “If I’m hungover, I’ll say I’m hungover or if I’ve a spot – I’m not going to hide it. I think it’s good for young girls to have someone ‘relatable’. I look at models from all over the world and their Instagram pictures are always perfect, but I think it’s actually ok to come across as normal, and I’ve come to learn that even the most beautiful women can be so insecure.”

Joanne Larby

Joanne Larby AKA The Make-Up Fairy Pro has close to 135,000 followers across all her social media accounts. Speaking to us earlier this year, she talked about the difficulties of having such a strong online presence. “When you share so much of your life with such a huge following, it’s nearly like you’re not allowed NOT to share,” she told us. “I went through a break-up about three months ago and when all I wanted to do was curl up and not think about it, people almost feel like they had the right to know exactly what was going on. I suppose it’s a constant online obligation.”

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• Holly Carpenter
• Instagram
• Joanne Larby
• Rosie Connolly
• social media
• Suzanne Jackson