You asked, we answered: Blogger’s Unveiled, online trolls and social media fatigue on The Spill

Have you ever had one of those days that screamed for a wine and chats sesh with your girlfriends? Enter Image.ie’s podcast, The Spill. 

The Spill is hosted by our very own self-proclaimed agony aunts Sophie White and Rhona McAuliffe. With a mix of discussion on current affairs, arts and culture and some healthy advice to our listeners, it’s the best place to unwind and deliberate the issues affecting Irish women today.

On this week’s episode of The Spill, Sophie and Rhona delve into the subject that has taken over Irish social media for the past few months – Blogger’s Unveiled. The Instagram account, now closed down, was the subject of controversy, gossip, speculation and intrigue for weeks, until it came to a head this month, with many Irish influencers sharing their experiences of the page and online trolling and bullying in general.

Our hosts relay the Blogger’s Unveiled situation from beginning to end, giving their two cents on who they believe and what they think is the outcome of the controversy. Sophie and Rhona then go on to discuss the psychology behind bullying and the kinds of people who take part in online trolling. One in four Irish teenagers have been cyber-bullied, and although it may sound dramatic to immediately tie this to the possibility of self-harm and suicide in victims, that is exactly what this dangerous trend entails. Rhona cites Blogger’s Unveiled’s anonymity as a key factor in its menacing presence online – is the internet absolving us of responsibility? Do people feel more comfortable trolling online because they feel they won’t get caught? And what should we learn from the Blogger’s Unveiled drama?

As the BU controversy was all anyone could talk about all month, Sophie and Rhona move on to how tired they feel with social media these days. Instagram fatigue (the feeling of being sick of the same content all the time on the ‘Gram) affects both our hosts, especially Rhona, who thinks that Instagram may be her next platform death. It’s just not satisfying her anymore. There have been countless think pieces written about the importance of ‘switching off’ and how we’re heading towards a mass exodus of social media. Both Facebook and Snapchat have seen big losses in active users – is it just a matter of time before it happens to the rest of our favourite platforms? Are we heading towards a truly ‘social media free’ life – or is that even possible?

In this week’s Hit Me Up, Rhona has been hit with every child’s worst nightmare. A listener, anonymously called Trying to Save a Marriage, from Meath’s parents haven’t had the best relationship over the past 30 years – her father’s controlling behaviour has forced her mother out of the house to her own part-time job, which has given her a new lease of life – but that’s not the only thing it’s given her. While out one day, our letter-writer looked at her mother’s phone to find sexts between her and another man. Although she understands how difficult her dad may be, she doesn’t want him to get hurt – should she tell her mum that she knows about her affair?

Enjoy the new episode, or catch up on the ones you’ve missed here:

https://soundcloud.com/imagethespill/episode-11-bloggers-unveiled-online-trolling-and-social-media-fatigue