This teen Instagram model is blowing up on social media for ... quitting social media

essena
YouTube/Essena O'Neill

After she spent years amassing hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, one Australian social media model is calling it quits so she can search for what's "real."

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But not everyone is buying it.

Thanks to copious media reports and a conversation surrounding her actions online, her follower account is only growing by the thousands.

Keep reading for the full story (and her photos — at least until she deletes them).

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Essena O'Neill, 19, says she dreamed for years of being famous online. She started obsessing over famous models' body measurements and massive followings at age 12, and gradually turned herself into one of the beautiful women she'd admired.

 

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But she recently realized that the clothes, adoration, and modeling gigs aren't making her happy. After spending two weeks in L.A. without using her mobile phone at all, she realized she'd been relying too much on the validation that comes from an Instagram like.

A photo posted by Social Media Is Not Real Life (@essenaoneill)

 

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O'Neill had offers from big brands and sponsorships at her feet, but she still felt off.

At 15 I felt the need to act, look and be older. I felt the need to be sexy. To attract attention meant to be of value ... Behind the image full post - www.letsbegamechangers.com

A photo posted by Social Media Is Not Real Life (@essenaoneill) on Nov 15, 2012 at 1:29am PST

 

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"I was dating a guy who was way more famous than me, way more successful, had an amazing car, was beautiful beyond words," she said. "And he was f---ing depressed."

 

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So she decided to upload a teary, emotional, 17-minute video about her dilemma on November 2. It currently has over 1.2 million views.

 

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Another bombshell: despite her Instagram career, she says she still can't pay her rent. So in the video, she asks followers and fans to donate money to her new website called Let's Be Game Changers.

essena
LetsBeGameChangers.com
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She says she's using her new site to promote environmentalism and veganism. She's posted animal rights memes like the one below on her Instagram account for years.

 

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She doesn't see why making money from product placement and modeling is considered okay but profiting from her new anti-social-media movement is not. "It's a movement that is far greater than I," she said.

Screen Shot 2015 11 03 at 3.30.13 PM
YouTube/Essena O'Neill
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O'Neill hasn't deleted her Instagram account (at least not yet), but she tells viewers she went back and revised the captions. "Our youth is obsessed with a 2D world," she wrote under this photo. "It's consuming us."

A photo posted by Social Media Is Not Real Life (@essenaoneill)

 

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Since that first video went up, O'Neill posted a follow-up from 20 hours ago where she cries with joy over the attention her movement has been getting. (Which means she's still using social media.)

OVERWHELMED AND BEYOND WORDS GRATEFUL from Essena O'Neill on Vimeo.

 

She was thrilled to find that her message was "going global," she said. "I had so many hits this morning. I have so many emails from people like 'Good Morning America,' 'The Project.'" She shows viewers her computer screen, full of emails from the press.

Screen Shot 2015 11 03 at 3.32.48 PM
Vimeo/Essena O'Neill
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"All these massive media outlets want to do interviews that want to talk about the reality behind social media and I feel so grateful that this is getting spread, that young people can find out the reality behind the 'perfect Instagram life.'"

Screen Shot 2015 11 03 at 3.33.34 PM
Vimeo/Essena O'Neill
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Online, many are applauding her for spreading her message.

 

 

 

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Meanwhile, others don't think social media is to blame for her unhappiness and are questioning why she continues to post on YouTube and Vimeo while asserting that she's done with social media.

 

 

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What's more, two fellow social media stars, Nina and Randa, say they spent time with O'Neill in L.A. and don't believe her story.

 

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Either way, Essena's social media fame isn't going anywhere. She's gained over 200,000 followers since posting her video on Monday.

Screen Shot 2015 11 03 at 3.19.31 PM
Instagram/Essena O'Neill
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