Public Relations has cleverly found its way into the digital era, the use of tools and apps not only made it easy to automate some processes in order to save time, but it also helped to increase the effectiveness of PR.
Smart tools like Lissted, Traackr and many others, are used to find relevant influencers within a community or even globally. This has worked very well until now, especially in the glamorous world of fashion and beauty products where pretty girls found themselves becoming internet stars.
In the last days, however, an Aussie fashion blogger decided that she had enough with this industry. She decided to “reveal” the truth behind her perfect Instagram shots by captioning all her photo with details of how much money was she paid to wear certain clothes or how long was she spending without eating for the perfect picture. This might be a risky statement to make, but it’s certainly not news for her followers or everyone with common sense.
What I really thought was clever is how she moved from being just a pretty girl showing off her body, to a woman who wants more. She saw the opportunity and took it, she made a powerful statement, enough to get her on the pages of fashion magazines where she could promote her new campaign: “NOT REAL LIFE”.
Will she change the face of social media and how PR companies are using them? Probably not, PR people are not forcing anyone into it, it’s your personal choice. However, I think she will help many insecure girls realise that numbers shouldn’t define you. The best of luck to Essena O’Neill, I think her role on social media is not finished yet.