In 2013, I wrote a blog about celebrities (which
you can read here
if you’re in the mood for a rant.) Of course, times have changed and we now
have shows like Love Island and Ex on the beach (not to mention TOWIE and KUWTK
and the like, which did exist back then but maybe didn’t have such a cult
following as they do now.) These types of shows mean virtually anyone can be
famous for doing pretty much nothing, so long as you are willing to have your
arse hanging out or have sex on the telly.
Instagram has a lot to answer for – you can now follow the
highlights of your favourite celebs’ lives at the touch of a button. But this
is not just limited to the rich and famous. Anyone can be an Instagram star, so
long as the right filters are applied, hashtags are used and followers flock. Case
in point, my cat, Jess. Jess has her own Instagram account (itsahardmoglife.) I
would love to say the creation of said account was some sort of social experiment
but I would be lying. She’s just a really adorable ball of fluff and I knew
that my own Instagram account would end up being filled with pictures of her
posing or hiding in drawers etc., so I created an account for her, and try to keep
my own posts cat free (although the odd snap does sneak in occasionally.)
Jess has more than double the amount of followers I have,
and yet, her pictures are generally a variation of a theme – her looking cute
and fluffy. She is followed by other cats all over the world and cat lovers
from all far flung corners of the globe. Her pictures receive tens of likes
within seconds. And yet, on an average day, Jess does nothing but sleep, eat,
play (if she can be arsed) and look cute. Her life is the definition of the everyday.
When you think about it, Jess really isn’t that different to
some of the celebrities that exist today. The stars of TOWIE were on the whole,
normal people living mundane lives, working as hairdressers or receptionists
until they were thrust in to the limelight. And perhaps this is why we love
them (Lauren Goodger has 671,000 followers!) Because as much as I envy the
life of Victoria Beckham, I know that kind of fame and fortune is unattainable for
people like me. But women like Lauren, well, normal folk can relate to her, in
a way that they could never relate to any of the Spice Girls.
We are living in a country (and world) which is more divided
and unsettled than perhaps ever before, and so we turn to social media to escape
the dismay and sadness that exists in our minds and hearts. I can understand
why people avoid the news. Who wants to be faced with another day of new
atrocities, of unimaginable horrors? So we scroll through Instagram, looking
for a happier interpretation of today. And on those particularly bad days, where
we hope for a better future, we might skip Posh’s perfectly framed images and
settle on photos of the Jess’s of this world. Because we can’t all have millions
in the bank, but we can all hope to own a fluffy cat.
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