STEPHANIE MARIE NORDSTROM

Its all fun & business until its meaningless. 

- Storytelling

- Insight

- Influencer

- Connected 

- Consumer (less of a platitude and more of a frighteningly powerful moral idea, but a misconstrued advertising word all the same)

- Engagement

Essena O’Neill, an 18 year old that has collected hundreds of thousands of followers across Instagram, YouTube & Snapchat is calling bullshit on her fake reality.

She describes the world that she was living in as "2D" and says it made her "incredibly insecure". It is true that living digitally is a different dimension, with different parameters, entirely than the real world but doesn’t have to be less. It just can’t be the equal. In that case it will always be less. It is apples to oranges. That is why we must push ourselves to understand what it is to be human digitally. Numerically ranked systems based on shallow truths are clearly not the answer.

Essena’s truth is also so woven with the cultural expectations of being a female. Toned body, perfect hair lips & skin. Also clearly not the answer.

It is about time someone instigate a global conversation about the reality of creating digital projections of ourselves and what that means for our real world selves. The question now amplifies: how to communicate and connect in way that is validating beyond the limited scope of numbers.

"No celebrity understands the mechanisms of Internet obsession better than Drake. Online, fandom isn’t merely an act of receiving — it’s one of interaction, recontextualization, disputed ownership and cheek. For the celebrity, it’s about letting go of unilateral top-down narratives and letting the hive take control. For fans, it’s about applying personalization to the object of adoration."

Grabbing lunch this week, I saw a girlfriend snapping a picture of her boyfriend in front of Le Bernadin. An average, unremarkable interaction. Working in Midtown I’ve walked by similar countless times without it registering in my memory. The boyfriend eagerly takes the phone back, immediately looking to see himself standing on a New York City block. There is not a hint of vanity in his actions, instead an honest & eager curiosity. This left an impression. 

This question is what gives people a profound cerebral pleasure in capturing themselves, to see their experience is real & to have other people see it as they see it.

Digital depictions of our lives give a new way to affirm, I am here. Look at me in the world. This innately human pursuit is a response to what is known as the “veil of perception.” Most philosophers agree that when we look at the world, we are not really seeing the world but instead perceiving our very own & very personal experiences. What they differ on is the question of whether those personal experiences can be trusted. I believe this question is what gives people a profound cerebral pleasure in capturing themselves, to see their experience is real & to have other people see it as they see it. Seeking an answer to the question of personal experience, validation to the core of existence. 

What this means for brands as they shape their digital presence is affirming their product in the picture of their consumer’s lives. This explains why we are all drowning in the word ‘lifestyle.’ That is why brand Instagrams with the product well featured tend to win every time in engagement. That is my drink, that is my card. The brands that affirm the way people depict their life will succeed in creating their digital identity. And, offer a model for others to do the same. 

For more read:

How Honda’s Instagram community just wanted to see sheet metal.

 AMEX receives 2X engagement on grams with cards featured.