“What better way to make my point than with a mass-produced doll?”
Called Socality Barbie – a reference to local communities that are connected globally – the feed shows Barbie in hilarious photographs that send up the hipster lifestyle: You’ll find Barbie soaking in the tub and feeling “blessed,” rocking black-rimmed, nerdy-but-chic glasses, enjoying the view from a breathtaking mountain top with a cup of java, or hanging in a coffee shop, complete with foam-art latte and a copy of hipster shelter mag, Kinfolk. And all with the requisite hashtags and “I’m so cool” descriptions.
According to Wired Magazine, the anonymous Portland, Oregon photographer wanted to make a social commentary on the utter lack of originality in hipsters’ social media posts that use the #liveauthentic and #socality tags, as well as the sheer numbers of non-hipsters who’ve adopted this trend.
“People were all taking the same pictures in the same places and using the same captions,” the anonymous photographer says. “I couldn’t tell any of their pictures apart so I thought, ‘What better way to make my point than with a mass-produced doll?’”
It seems people agree. Socality Barbie’s feed has been lighting up the Web in recent days. So far, the feed has already amassed nearly 1 million followers – not bad for an account that was created merely a few months ago. But then again, social commentary or not, the posts are just plain amusing.
While Socality Barbie could be viewed as a scathing critique on artificial hipster culture in social media, she (or the account’s creator, rather) is quite the Instagram expert, and there are several techniques we could all learn in building a successful account. In looking through her feed, here are some tips we’ve gathered:
- To be really authentic, you have to shoot scenes and situations that are truly unique
- If your hair is a bit messy, that’s okay; just put on a knit cap
- Always be poised in your photos
- Take shots of beaches, coffee shops, and nature
- Be very philosophical in your photo musings
- Use hashtags and @ frequently in your descriptions
Be warned: By imitating Socality Barbie, you, too, is as guilty as the users she’s mocking. There’s no telling in what other pseudo-original poses and scenes Socality Barbie will turn up in, so keep following her feed. For more of her musings, Socality Barbie also has a Twitter account, naturally.
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