Make Your Difference Become Your Strength

Social Media helped me accept myself!

With the spread of digital transformation, many shaming issues are spreading on social media, often creating shame and disgrace for some people.

Social media can be extremely useful for individuals to embrace their true self. Indeed, social media can have an effect of shameless effect for some individuals. Whether it can help to accept a disease, its body, its ethnic origins.

However, some individuals succeed in making their weaknesses a strength on social media. This is the case of the model Winnie Harlow. Indeed, thanks to her skin conditions, Winnie became a trendsetter on Instagram and became an example for many individuals affected by the vitiligo disease. She became an Instagram influencer and is now a model, and poses for the biggest brands in the world.

Winnie Harlow now has 7,7M followers on Instagram (@winnieharlow), with an engaging community on both Instagram and Snapchat!

Winnie Harlow

Embrace your weaknesses!

Moreover, this shaming fight on social media and the embracing of individuals’ weaknesses can also be seen through body acceptation such as the phenomenon created around the plus size model Ashley Graham. Indeed, thanks to her success and her image on social media, Graham has allowed women to accept their bodies. Plus, she participated in the shift in the perception of beauty, which is no longer just a size 34 and 1 meter long legs. Ashley gathers 10,5 million followers on her Instagram page @ashleygraham, a big community which is only growing!

Both Winnie Harlow and Ashley Graham allow the world to change and are living proof of this change, just by their acceptance by individuals on social media. However, some people use social media and their weaknesses to get a message across, and sometimes as a therapy.

Ashley Graham's body positivism

This is the case of Martin Petit, a French blogger, and influencer, which became tetraplegic in August 2017. On his Instagram page, @el_marticino, he shares his daily battle against paralysis and gathers 45k people in his challenging life.

On his level, Martin breaks the taboo around the subject of paralysis while allowing himself a therapy through the process. He places social media as a positive attribute to some individuals’ fulfillment.

Overall, much negative shaming is present on social media such as Instagram or Facebook. These platforms are full of individuals who are bullied because of their bodies or difference.

However, some people like Ashley Graham, Winnie Harlow or Martin Petit have made this shaming a strength and allow a new vision of our world thanks to their difference or courage.