A few weeks ago, former social media star Essena O'Neill made headlines for quitting Instagram and telling the world "Social Media Is Not Real Life." And it looks like she's inspired others to follow suit.
U.K.-based model Stina Sanders, who's posed for the likes of FHM and Maxim, is the latest social media celebrity who wants to make the platforms more "real." To do so, the 24-year-old model decided to post only "real" and "unfiltered" photos, rather than her usual glamorous shots.
Here's a glimpse of her past posts:
"I wanted to see what would actually happen if I stopped posting glamorous photos, and shared stuff that you wouldn't normally even share with your friends, stuff that is taboo, stuff that was quite crude, all that kind of stuff," Sanders tells People. "Personally I think Instagram is so fake — the amount of filters, the airbrushing — so I thought it would be interesting."
Sanders' "unglamorous images" include facial hair bleaching, chipped nail polish and even a trip to a colonic irrigation clinic to help her IBS.
After posting these unedited photos, Sanders' Instagram followers dropped from more than 13,000 to less than 10,000, according to People. She did, however, see an increase in likes to her images. (Note: Sanders now has 43,000 followers on Instagram, most likely due to the press surrounding her social media experiment).
Another image, which shows Sanders leaving a therapy session to treat her anxiety, brought an onset of supporters.
"[Mental health is] not talked about it enough," Sanders tells People. "I didn't think I would get a positive response, but I think that had the most likes out of all of them."
Of her realistic Instagram shots, she tells Tab magazine, "I found this would be a fun way to reveal not only what’s behind my mask but to also show the world that perfect is not real."
"It’s interesting to see that real life is not to everyone’s taste. Perhaps Instagram is an escapism from reality," she continues. "I see so many women comparing themselves to other people’s images, whether that’s the girl down the road or a Victoria Secret’s model. It’s just silly. No one is perfect."
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