4 ms·

Right, so like modelling, which is not exactly an obscure occupation. That she did it using instagram doesn't make much difference there. I think it's importan

Right, so like modelling, which is not exactly an obscure occupation. That she did it using instagram doesn't make much difference there. I think it's important to point out that I am an old man, not a teenager, so overdramatizing things doesn't boost my engagement.

kaitai 11y ago
Modeling is not an obsession, it's a job. You do it when you're young, smoke a lot of cigarettes etc, and then you move on. It's like grad school but with even more skeezy old guys. (Now, math modeling may become an obsession...) edit: just to be clear, oldmanjay, I am not making any comments about old guys in general! some of my best friends are old guys!
- Animats 11y ago
  "Modeling is not an obsession, it's a job." Becoming a model is an obsession for some young women. For models, it's a gig job, and getting gigs is hard. Only the top 100 or so models worldwide make real money. If you're in LA, you probably know some actress/model/waitress types. I had a friend whose career peak, after years of work, was one McDonalds' commercial that got nationwide distribution. Below the top tier, the work is not that great. There's trade show work as a booth babe. There's catalog modeling ("OK, the next one is the blue sweater, #6522, and hurry it up, we have 20 more to do before lunch").
  - kaitai 11y ago
    Totally agreed. Hence the comparison with graduate school: you often have to work other jobs to support the effort, you've got a dream you'll make it big, you realize the toll it's taking on your life, and you probably stop doing it eventually. Even if you "make it," you're probably not a top model (a prof at Princeton) but instead a commercial model (prof at directional state U or small Midwestern religious school). Below the top tier, the work is not what you were sold on in grad school, but you do get to make money doing something you kind of or really like. (Please quit if you don't like it at all.) Even American literature has way better job security and pension prospects than modeling, though.
georgemcbay 11y ago
Her "coming out" is not applicable to my life (and presumably not yours) as I'm a very casual social-media user (also, I guess, an old man at 42), so at some level I can see how it seems trivial. And the clickbaity, overly dramatic headline here (reused from teen vogue... which I'm not familiar with but I'll guess is not heralded as a literary journal of merit) doesn't help sell the story too much. But I know enough young people to realize that the social media "like"-fueled bubble she was apparently living in is not unique to her and is surprisingly pervasive/scary among a lot of people her age (even those who aren't "internet famous"). Given that, I totally respect her realizing how superficial it can all be, realizing how misleadingly disconnected from real-life it can be and stepping back and telling her story of what seems like a real social media obsession so that others might step back as well and rethink how they deal with social media. Nobel prize worthy? No. Of course not. But brave within the context of her life. So kudos, Essena O'Neill, Australian girl I've never heard of but who may have a useful message for others.
cbd1984 11y ago
Life-work balance is important until you retire.
- chris_wot 11y ago
  Yes, and black is the absence of or complete absorption of light. Not sure that is very helpful, given once you retire you aren't working any more.
  - cbd1984 11y ago
    What is the point of this comment?
cooper12 11y ago
Yeah it's similar to modeling, but social media completely changes the dynamics. Models usually work in controlled environments with professional photographers and have their pictures airbrushed to perfection. The final result is published in some magazine and any enquiries are handled by some middleman. As you can see there are many layers insulating a model from her fans. Social media completely tears that down and you get metrics like "likes" and you read comments from people from all over, and suddenly there's a pressure on you from all these people. They also don't really have the support network like other models or photographers or editors or managers. They're usually doing it all on their own on their phones with light editing to get that "natural" look. Lastly at her age she's a high-school senior, old, but hardly what I'd consider responsible enough to handle her personal life professionally, especially when her whole image was embedded in social media. I recommend you check out this article about why the creator of Flappy Bird took his game down. [0] Some might say he was just doing game development too. [0]: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-flight-of-the-birdman-flappy-bird-creator-dong-nguyen-speaks-out-20140311 http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-flight-of-the-b...
basch 11y ago
it's not like there haven't been warnings about vanity (or 'a proud look' if you will) since bible days. i like how journalists pretend old problems are new because magical technology is an intermediate facilitator between the user and their vice.

kaitai 11y ago

Modeling is not an obsession, it's a job. You do it when you're young, smoke a lot of cigarettes etc, and then you move on. It's like grad school but with even more skeezy old guys. (Now, math modeling may become an obsession...) edit: just to be clear, oldmanjay, I am not making any comments about old guys in general! some of my best friends are old guys!

Animats 11y ago
"Modeling is not an obsession, it's a job." Becoming a model is an obsession for some young women. For models, it's a gig job, and getting gigs is hard. Only the top 100 or so models worldwide make real money. If you're in LA, you probably know some actress/model/waitress types. I had a friend whose career peak, after years of work, was one McDonalds' commercial that got nationwide distribution. Below the top tier, the work is not that great. There's trade show work as a booth babe. There's catalog modeling ("OK, the next one is the blue sweater, #6522, and hurry it up, we have 20 more to do before lunch").
- kaitai 11y ago
  Totally agreed. Hence the comparison with graduate school: you often have to work other jobs to support the effort, you've got a dream you'll make it big, you realize the toll it's taking on your life, and you probably stop doing it eventually. Even if you "make it," you're probably not a top model (a prof at Princeton) but instead a commercial model (prof at directional state U or small Midwestern religious school). Below the top tier, the work is not what you were sold on in grad school, but you do get to make money doing something you kind of or really like. (Please quit if you don't like it at all.) Even American literature has way better job security and pension prospects than modeling, though.

georgemcbay 11y ago

Her "coming out" is not applicable to my life (and presumably not yours) as I'm a very casual social-media user (also, I guess, an old man at 42), so at some level I can see how it seems trivial. And the clickbaity, overly dramatic headline here (reused from teen vogue... which I'm not familiar with but I'll guess is not heralded as a literary journal of merit) doesn't help sell the story too much. But I know enough young people to realize that the social media "like"-fueled bubble she was apparently living in is not unique to her and is surprisingly pervasive/scary among a lot of people her age (even those who aren't "internet famous"). Given that, I totally respect her realizing how superficial it can all be, realizing how misleadingly disconnected from real-life it can be and stepping back and telling her story of what seems like a real social media obsession so that others might step back as well and rethink how they deal with social media. Nobel prize worthy? No. Of course not. But brave within the context of her life. So kudos, Essena O'Neill, Australian girl I've never heard of but who may have a useful message for others.

cbd1984 11y ago

Life-work balance is important until you retire.

chris_wot 11y ago
Yes, and black is the absence of or complete absorption of light. Not sure that is very helpful, given once you retire you aren't working any more.
- cbd1984 11y ago
  What is the point of this comment?

cooper12 11y ago

Yeah it's similar to modeling, but social media completely changes the dynamics. Models usually work in controlled environments with professional photographers and have their pictures airbrushed to perfection. The final result is published in some magazine and any enquiries are handled by some middleman. As you can see there are many layers insulating a model from her fans. Social media completely tears that down and you get metrics like "likes" and you read comments from people from all over, and suddenly there's a pressure on you from all these people. They also don't really have the support network like other models or photographers or editors or managers. They're usually doing it all on their own on their phones with light editing to get that "natural" look. Lastly at her age she's a high-school senior, old, but hardly what I'd consider responsible enough to handle her personal life professionally, especially when her whole image was embedded in social media. I recommend you check out this article about why the creator of Flappy Bird took his game down. [0] Some might say he was just doing game development too. [0]: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-flight-of-the-birdman-flappy-bird-creator-dong-nguyen-speaks-out-20140311 http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-flight-of-the-b...

basch 11y ago

it's not like there haven't been warnings about vanity (or 'a proud look' if you will) since bible days. i like how journalists pretend old problems are new because magical technology is an intermediate facilitator between the user and their vice.