“The better you look, the more you see.”
Brett Easton Ellis
As a believer in the rewarding of merit and the possibility for those with talent and dedication to rise to the top, celebrity culture has always disgusted me. It seems like a cesspool of vapidity, wherein inflated yet fragile egos jostle for notoriety of any type, be it a sex tape or a scandalous hook-up with another fake celebrity. The world simply does not need to this information. It clogs the airwaves, dulls the synapses, and makes idiots of millions.
Women on Instagram
The rise of social media has democratised the plastic, empty celebrity world, and millions of nobodies now jostle to build fanbases and become ‘influencers’. As a newcomer to Instagram, late on the scene I know, it is fascinating to see what bedroom celebrities perceive to be their talents. For females, this seems to consist almost entirely of photos of themselves. The world is their mirror, and they just cannot stop staring.
For the standard wannabe jet setting influencer, Instagram feeds will invariably feature the star posing seductively in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, or drinking cocktails in Thailand. That is the scope of the content. Here I am, standing in front of a well-known landmark. Follow me. Love me. There is undoubtedly a very, very long-suffering boyfriend attached to the scheme, and his job is to snap the pictures from flattering angles that highlight the eternal subject and the familiar structure.
The bulk of ‘successful’ female Instagramers fall into a second category. They exist only to post photos of themselves various states of undress. A million followers can be attracted by a boringly attractive blonde who can flood the world with stock-standard, slightly risqué images shot by a semi-professional photographer. This appears to be a full-time enterprise. Sponsorship deals with swimwear brands appear the driving source of revenue.
Then there are those women who reside in the fringes of convention beauty. Who would have thought that a woman with a huge ass could attract millions of followers. She has a huge ass. Look at it bulge out of jeans, shorts, skirts and bikinis. No other ‘talent’ is apparent. Just a girl showing off a huge ass to the world.
Men on Instagram
Men seem to take a different route to Instagram fame. There are plenty of buff types who take gym work out pics highlighting their impressive muscular definition, but the majority of popular male accounts seem to focus on the material trappings success – luxury cars, tailored suits and the like. Are women interested in this stuff, or does it appeal primarily to a male audience? Are women vetting the male dating pool based on pictures of Ferraris, cigars, and patent leather shoes? Or do less successful men use such material as inspiration to hustle harder and acquire more?
Are their fields of academic study devoted to such lines of inquiry? Have papers been written exploring the instant gratification of Instagram likes? Is social media leading to dumber generations? Do influencers actually influence? Are they the future or marketing, or will people get bored by the emptiness of such mediums? The world needs answers.
For those women at the start of their Instagram journey and are looking to break into the bikini sphere, I can only wish you good luck. This is a very saturated market. Physical beauty abounds. White teeth and perky breasts might not be enough to propel you to stardom. Perhaps the world just does not need another influencer who has the talent to wear clean underwear and smile knowingly over her shoulder. This is not in short supply. Perhaps there are other skills that you can develop and display.
Sex tapes, lingerie, bikinis – there is only so much of this meaningless material that can be consumed, surely. A limit will be reached at some point.
G G Novack – Travel Correspondent, Critic, Political Commentator, Instagram Analyst