Essena O'Neill (born 3 November 1996) is a former internet celebrity from Coolum Beach, Queensland, Australia, who made national and international headlines when quitting social media in 2015.

Feb 17, 2025 · Essena O’Neill was the ultimate 2015 'It Girl' online before she dramatically quit social media, calling it 'contrived' and 'all-consuming'. Her exit generated international headlines and followers were left in disbelief as she stuck to her word and vanished from public life.

Ms Ms O’Neill said she had grown disenchanted with the world of Instagram stardom and warned her fans in a 17-minute video not to believe everything they saw on social media.

Jan 7, 2016 · Essena O’Neill, a teenage Instagram star with more than 500,000 followers who decided to shut down her social media career in late October, said that her exit from chasing likes and shares made...

Mar 18, 2016 · Essena O’Neill, the former Instagram star who quit the internet after declaring social media to be fake, has been named as one of the most influential people online by Time magazine.

Nov 17, 2019 · Essena O'Neill, a model from Queensland, was one of Australia's first 'Instagram famous' influencers before sensationally quitting social media in 2015. Four years on,...

Nov 4, 2016 · Essena O’Neill was the then-19-year-old Australian model, Instagram star, and vegan-lifestyle enthusiast who dramatically and publicly declared social media “ not real life ” last November ...

Jan 5, 2016 · After quitting social media two months ago, Essena O'Neill has broken her silence with an email newsletter.

Nov 2, 2015 · With over half a million Instagram followers, some 60,000 friends on Snapchat, and more than 200,000 subscribers on YouTube, Essena O’Neill was considered a teenage social media superstar.

Nov 3, 2015 · After a whirlwind few days of garnering attention for the way she quit most traditional kinds of social media, Essena O'Neill opened up again about how she feels about the way people have ...