Journalism

Let me guess…you said you wouldn’t go on it but you did, didn’t you? And now you feel rotten about it, don’t you? And you promised you’ll be deactivating tomorrow, but let me tell you, you won’t!

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“Millennials alone are spending roughly 14.5 hours per week using their smartphone devices”, equivalent to 2 hours per day. Which is around 754 hours per year, 3,770 in 5 years and 7,540 in 10 years. The world population is at 7 billion whilst social media’s population trails at 3.48 billion and rising.

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Let’s be honest, when the first brick Nokia phones came out in the 2000s and Paris Hilton was using her camera to take ‘selfies’ rather than normal photos, we should have been able to sense that the world had just changed route.

The current world of technological advances, digitisation and social media has altered the way in which ‘celebrities’ are produced; leading ‘ordinary’ individuals to take command of their current social strata and ‘make it’. But for millennials this may be taking a toll on their mental health.

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At a warehouse festival in inner Melbourne, i-D correspondent Iman Hamaama, spoke to 3 Melbourne influencers about what it means to be an influencer, balancing online and offline lifestyles, perceived identities, mental health and the newest trend ‘JOMO’ or the ‘Joy of Missing Out’ from social media.

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It’s quite the juxtaposition, because you see, celebrities want to hang out with ‘normal’ people like us because of how ‘real’ we are; but then we want to throw away our modest lifestyles and mental health, why exactly? For an ego-boost.

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How did being an influencer become a thing?

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C: I think being an influencer is just something that took off quickly and people just weren’t expecting it; so, the people that were already in the game kind of new how to play it on their own terms.

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Z: Seriously, it was a bandwagon effect. Like blink and you’ll miss it.

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M: It was definitely a platform for ‘creatives’ to just create. It wasn’t about collaborations with brands or anything, it was more about showing the world what we were made of.

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Z: For sure. It was more about this underground community full of artists, DJs, fashions designers, photographer’s models all coming together and forming a community. Like if we weren’t good enough for corporate society, we could just take the back door to make it in to the industry.

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M: But then people ended up getting big breaks because of the photos they posted. It really helped them build recognition. I had a friend and we used to take photos on our iPhones and film camera and now she’s an international supermodel.

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Do you guys see yourselves as role models, celebrities or just ordinary people with a social media account?

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C: Instagram used to be a personal thing for me, it’s not like I planned my ‘success’. It used to be naïve, like I knew I was doing something ‘different’ because of what I posted but the impact and role I would have never really occurred to me. I don’t think I’m ready to be a role model, I’m more than happy to be myself despite my flaws. I’d much rather show people how out there I am, so that maybe they can find it within them to show the world the same.  

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Z: We aren’t celebrities. You can be an influencer without being famous in real life and you can be an ordinary person on social media that became a real-life sensation. You need to stay open-minded about these things.

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M: In a sense, we are role models because people follow us and at times imitate our behaviour to stay up to date with the times. So, talking about gender or mental health issues are important because people feel that sense of community online.

Have you guys heard about JOMO?

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M: It’s FOMO opposite right, like just being chill and balancing offline and online identities?

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Z: You’ve lost me. I’ve heard about FOMO and like I feel it a lot and advertisers are using it to their advantage but JOMO, what is that?

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I.H: JOMO is the ‘joy of missing out’. So, being able to say, ‘yes, I can have my digital, virtual reality happening’ whilst knowing when to stop and appreciate reality and feel good about it.

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C: That’s such a sick philosophy! It’s weird that I haven’t heard about it.

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Would you say you already kind of implement JOMO in your lives and how do you keep your mental health in check?

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Z: Yes, but sometimes the lines begin to blur like my real life or social life is probably existent mostly because of social media. So, when taking a photo or doing something, I always think ‘am I doing this for me or for Instagram?’

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M: Social media is basically a new earth. Because everyone’s on it despite their political views, social hierarchy or class, culture or gender. But it’s a world with no significant laws yet so people are still learning. I think sometimes you just need to deactivate, find yourself and come back but don’t feel the need to come back if social media made you feel blue when you were enjoying your real life.

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C: I have friends who really changed after social media, they’d act in specific way in front of the camera, take photos for Instagram rather than for the memories, refresh their feeds every two seconds, not leave the house because they would think people would spot them and compare them to Instagram. It was messed.

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Any last piece of advice?

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C: There’s always two sides to a story…and that’s the same on social media. There are times when I’m having the worst time at a party or shopping, you name it but someone will take a photo that ends up looking decent and makes me look like I’m having a blast. Not true.

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Z: Maybe, to raise awareness captions should tell a story like what happened when that photo was taken, that’d be nice for a change

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M: This is in terms of real life and online: If you keep looking for ‘inspiration’ from other people, you’ll never accept who you are. Try to know and shape the person you are before coming onto social media. Because at the end of the day, everyone’s frightened of being themselves even the top dogs on social media.

 

So, let me guess…you feel like you’re playing a role? You want to get off social media but also want to stay on? You’re still trying to be someone you aren’t rather than embracing who you really are? Let me tell you, that’s not ‘in’ anymore.