Chrissy Teigen has established herself as a celebrity for the people. Sure, she may be inconceivably attractive, rich as hell, and married to John Legend… But she’s also unapologetically honest, and is committed to giving people a full – and flawed – picture of her life.
While speaking on a panel at POPSUGAR Play/Ground over the weekend, the author and model spoke about the duality of social media that tends to plague our experience of the platforms.
“I’m hyper-aware of that girl that ‘has it all’,” she told bestie Jen Atkin in the interview.
“I think that’s annoying… so it’s hard being that person that you think is annoying.”
But what’s interesting is that she then went on to admit that despite her dislike of the superficial nature of so many social media accounts, she still catches herself following suit from time to time.
“You try to show all parts of you, not just like, ‘Oooh I’m eating pizza.
“I think that’s so annoying, but then I’m like, ‘Oh, I just posted that,’” she laughed.
Image credit: Spike TV
And she raises an interesting point. Because for all its negative impacts, and all the criticism it receives (from experts and everyday users, alike) social media users are still on the rise, and a whole lot of them are snapping cute photos in the hope that they’ll gain a few extra likes. Yes, including yours truly.
There’s a real danger in the seemingly perfect lives people tend to promote on social media, with many studies linking the trend to increases in anxiety and depression. But even with this knowledge, it can be difficult to resist the temptation to purport that image.
For Teigen, while she may occasionally catch herself posting that ‘hot girl eating pizza’ photo, she always tries to pay attention to the message she’s sending. Something that, frankly, is refreshing to see from a celeb:
“I think about pictures that you post and if you look like you’re having the best time and everything’s a fantasy land, and everything looks wonderful, “she said.
“And I don’t like doing that to people. I like to post the other side of things.”
“When it comes to anything – when it comes to vacations – I never want to sell people on this life that’s unattainable or a fantasy. That’s why I like to talk about how dumb John is, or…”
Why? Well, because she feels more connected to regular folk like you and me than the shiny world of celebrity personalities.
“I’m happy if people can see a part of themselves in me or, with their parenting see that I’m going through the same things they’re going through,” she said.
“That’s because I’ve always felt more a part of your world than I have when I’m at an awards show…”
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