Tag: self esteem

By Katherina Hoi When I was 16, I had 80,000 followers on Instagram. When I was 16, I learned that my body was a commodity, an ad space, a place to project a hashtag and a brand name. Without an agency or clear direction of how to manage the online sphere, I was on my own, tens of thousands eyes watching my teenage self morph and change and twist to please.  In a Pavlovian sense, I connected my neutral stance with the social platform to the positive stimulus that was free clothes, makeup, and attention. It all hinged on the maintenance of my online persona.  I could pretend that my cyber self was an accurate reflection of who I was, not just a representation of everything I was not. I could pretend as if my cyber self was a true reflection, not a representation of everythi...