Instagram is my side-boyfriend... I L-O-V-E it, and with 569 (and counting) posts under my belt, there's no signs of me dumping it just yet.
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| Here's some food I Instagrammed earlier. |
After reading a recent Guardian blog I do however have some food- for- thought for you. Not necessarily my opinion, just a little slice of devil's advocate.
Kate Winslet has recently expressed in an interview that "social media is harming our children", an argument that has circled since the beginning of time (media time that is). She states that young women look to social media to "gain image- validation from strangers" and with that comes worrying consequences such as eating disorders. In fact, all social media is apparently banned in the Winslet household and it doesn't look promising for a Kate Winslet official Instagram account anytime soon.
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| The Holiday, Titanic and The Reader are some of my fav films... just saying. |
Now the interesting part of this interview (here comes my devil's advocate pie-in-da-face), is that Kate Winslet would not put her name behind any campaigns surrounding this issue. She did not want any negative back-lash from her comments, and was concerned that she would "look like a celebrity who think they have all the answers".
So my question to you: is there an air of same-difference?
Winslet does not want her daughter using social media sites to gain 'public' approval via people 'liking' her posts, placing importance on the opinion of others and not her own.
But by avoiding putting her name behind something she obviously believes in, Winslet is placing importance on what the public would think of her, and would prefer to maintain her favourable status in the public eye. In Instagram terms, she is still receiving 'mental-likes' by others and therefore would not risk jeopardising this by backing her true opinion.
Can you see what I'm getting at here?
Instagram 'likes'= positive validation from others
Kate Winslet keeping away from campaigns = positive validation from others.
Obviously I completely agree that young adolescents can let the media influence themselves to a worrying degree, and yes this does unfortunately cause terrible outcomes such as eating disorders and Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
But how far can we really get away from this world of acceptance from others?
Can we genuinely always practise what we preach?
Or can we fall into the same trap without realising?
