Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies • Hacker News Board

Re: Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies

#41

Post by hugh4 » Tue, Nov 03, 2015, 5:41 AM UTC

cbd1984 wrote: post #29

J_Darnley wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It collapsed two countries and nearly got a third but ended with exchanging one dictator for another. How is Tunisia these days? The origin gets overlooked with the rest of the shit show going on.

> It collapsed two countries and nearly got a third So that's nothing, now?

The actual wording was "nothing good".

The goodness or badness of the various revolutions going on is, at best, debatable. I suggest waiting 20 years to collect more data before attempting to debate it though.

Re: Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies

#42

Post by basch » Tue, Nov 03, 2015, 5:56 AM UTC

oldmanjay wrote: post #6

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently it took over her life, became an obsession. Social media made it easy to collect acclaim and popularity on a massive scale. Massive compared to what physical, real life offered.

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.

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.

Re: Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies

#43

Post by tertius » Tue, Nov 03, 2015, 6:46 AM UTC

cbd1984 wrote: post #29

J_Darnley wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It collapsed two countries and nearly got a third but ended with exchanging one dictator for another. How is Tunisia these days? The origin gets overlooked with the rest of the shit show going on.

> It collapsed two countries and nearly got a third So that's nothing, now?

Actually, less than nothing.

Re: Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies

#44

Post by kaitai » Tue, Nov 03, 2015, 3:04 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #31

kaitai wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

"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, t…

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.

Re: Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies

#45

Post by cbd1984 » Tue, Nov 03, 2015, 9:57 PM UTC

chris_wot wrote: post #37

cbd1984 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life-work balance is important until you retire.

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.

What is the point of this comment?

Re: Instagram-Famous Teen Shows the Dark Backstory of Her Perfect Selfies

#46

Post by PhasmaFelis » Wed, Nov 04, 2015, 8:41 AM UTC

hugh4 wrote: post #40

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the overwhelming narrative for attractive people on camera is "I woke up like this." Candid-looking pics like these lie brazenly about how much effort goes into making the perfect shot, and self-conscious kids burn themselves out trying to live up to a standard that is literally impossible in real life.

We're not talking high levels of reality-manipulation here, we're talking careful poses and taking lots of shots to pick out the best one. The reason that most girls will never look that good in photos isn't because they don't take enough shots to get a good one, it's because they're not as good-looking as that girl is to start with.

How does that make it better, exactly? Either way, people are being pressured to live up to impossible standards.