Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The trap of Internet Modeling

From a simple Google search of Internet Modeling you will see a flood of pages trying to engage you into modeling websites that involve downloading your photos, creating a profile and counting your hits and clicks daily to be the most popular model on the site. But is this really what being a model is about? When you want to become a model is this the grind? Sure it is easy to be an Internet Model, so maybe this is the reason that so many girls do it. And that makes a girl feel like a model,-and that is the end all. No agency search, no castings, and the word model becomes an image of a girl in a thong, or posing with some cheesecake. Now I love wearing thongs, and I love modeling lingerie, but I find there is something happening to the girl next door who has become the Internet model.

I think it comes down to the access the Internet gives us, we can show off photos, send files, exchange comments, and it isn't just meant for family. These exchanges are meant to boost the ego and become one's own celebrity of hits and clicks. I think back to AOL when I used to get an IM from some random guy who searched the member directory and then clicked on mine. He then asked to see my photo, and it was this big deal of "what will he think of it," and then judging, "is he cute." And him doing the same to me, so the next IM you would receive would be the asnwer and it was soo nerve racking. This is how we used to exchange photos! Today you seem weird if you Don't have a Facebook or a Myspace or even your own website,- whether you are the girl next door or as a model. I will admit getting a compliment on my photo profile is nice but not my daily highlight.

And when it comes to me being a model and marketing myself and proving to me that i am a model...the screen doesn't equal as much as print does to me and my modeling career. If I am the hottest girl on the web, it really doesn't flatter me as much as an editorial tearsheet.

The hit and click is inspiring, but what it inspires is me to be more. To chase the "real" modeling work.

I'd rather be known as "that girl modeling that shoe campaign or in that commercial." Than just another Internet model. But everyone has their own interests.

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