LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 12: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was processed using Instagram Photoshop filter) Actress Bella Thorne arrives at the Summit Entertainment's "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2" at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)
The newest puke-inducing trend to hit social media is starring young men and women who are yet to achieve, earn or create anything of substance basking in the Internet limelight of their parent’s wealth.
Welcome to the not so brave new world of spoiled rotten rich kids mostly on Instagram. It is where brash young do-nothing, ne’er do wells like 21-year-old Kevin Sacco show off the fact that they were born into money.
Just as we thought things could not get more ridiculous, it did with Instagram and Facebook turning young egotists into celebrities by simply showing off to foolish fans that follow their every post.
Sacco, featured this week in the Los Angeles Times, is seen bathing in an outdoor Jacuzzi in his penthouse suite overlooking the French Riviera. Sacco is not alone. His ilk on Facebook and Instagram can be seen sipping champagne, shopping at Louis Vuitton and referring to those of us who don’t engage or can’t afford such pleasures as “peasants.” Nice, huh?
We should have seen it coming with Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, who are clearly the queen duo and originators of the ‘fame for the fame’s sake’ phenomena that has been sweeping America. They don’t dance, or sing, or act, or write; but they make millions. Huh?
Just as we thought things could not get more ridiculous, it did with Instagram and Facebook turning young egotists into celebrities by simply showing off to foolish fans that follow their every post.
These young adults are sipping on $600 bottles of champagne in Santorini, while island hopping on 150-foot yachts. And who's paying for it? Not them — otherwise they'd be slaving away in the salt mines rather than blowing $4,000 on a new diamond encrusted watch to match their designer T-shirt.
They use social media, which many of us see as a positive and democratizing vehicle, in a most negative fashion. Social media is a great source of news. It's a great place to promote your brand. It's a great place to interact with people across the globe.
But in this latest context, it becomes a black hole of egoism for the young and rich who seem to be dying for some attention. And what better way to get it than to post pictures of yourself throwing hundred dollar bills out of your Ferrari while cruising to Vegas? Or pouring bottles of Perrier into in a toilet before squatting for fear that tap water may not be good enough to receive one’s waste. (Yes, that really is on Instagram). You don't get that kind of excitement following a scientist on Twitter.
So who's to blame? First of all, it is their fault, but it’s also on their parents; the ones who give in to whatever they want and let them believe that this is how the real world works.
It’s not!
If a young person spends all their time paying attention to Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, or TMZ, they're more likely to ask for a new Maybach for their 16th birthday. And when they don't get it, and envy those who do on social media, somehow it’s both the fault of the world and their parents who owe them their happiness through materialism.
Recently, a New Jersey teen that had left home sued her parents to get them to pay for her college education and living expenses. She left because she didn't want to follow her parents' rules, but she sure felt entitled to their money. What would we expect of someone that likely grew up watching and seeing their peers walking all over their parents both on TV and social media?
Welcome to the world of newfound, ill deserved and yet praised material exhibitionism, based on nothing more than the size of one’s bank account. Actually, mom and dads, yuck!
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