The concept of being “internet famous” is something I’ve started thinking about ever since I read an article about Australian model Essena O’Neill. Essena O’Neill is the instagram model who had part epiphany, part mental breakdown, and deleted all of her social media accounts. She then went on a rampage tearing apart her use of social media and its misleading ways.
After reading numerous articles about Essena I did what every normal person would do…I stalked her instagram page. On her page she edited the captions on all of her photos and instead described what she had to do in order to achieve the final photo. It was depressing to say the least.
It’s common knowledge that what we post on social media is a rosey snapshot of what we want others to see, but it is not an actual or accurate depiction of our real every day lives. What I found interesting was that Essena allowed social media to have a negative impact on her life. Initially, she allowed it to make her feel inadequate, depressed, and in some instances selfish, and obsessive. But her anti social media campaign still seemed to be fueled by negativity. But most ironic of all, her anti social media campaign was promoted and popularized entirely on social media.
Anyways, I thought more about why people would feel drawn to the internet as an outlet. Here I am blogging. Why? I could easily write all of this in a diary. I don’t because I want to reach out to people who may connect with something I might be feeling or thinking. A diary is very one sided, a blog has the potential for interaction. However, some people see the internet as a potential gold mine.
For instance Essena was able to make a few hundred dollars on one instagram post for wearing a dress that a boutique sent her. If you’re able to gain a sizable following online you have the potential to make a lot of money. Now I think I was aware of this before, but what caught me off guard was just how much people can make from the internet, and how often people try to profit from this internet cash cow.
I decided to conduct some research and in just 5 minutes I was able to find the following:
People even post how much they make monthly from their blog! LIKE…WHAT?!
This is life! People do this! There is a whole world of people out there who post how much money they make from their blog! I’m definitely not talking down on this habit. It’s not something I would do (Disclaimer: I make $0 per month on this blog). If you can make money from blogging then more power to you. I was just so unaware of this seemingly common practice that I am actually in shock. Here are some examples of what I’m talking about.
The breakdown of their earnings is reminiscent of what Essena was talking about. Some of these bloggers review or discuss things that they were paid to discuss. I hope I’m not coming off as naive, but I truly didn’t realize this was happening. I was absolutely not aware.
What do you guys think about this? Were you aware that this was going on? Were you aware that people are making this much money from their blog? Would you blog for money?
I will leave you all with this absolutely legitimate quote I found on the internet:
Being famous on the internet is like being rich in monopoly. -Marilyn Monroe
Yass queen, yas.
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