Back in business: Olivia Reall
Hey girly pops, she’s back.
The real Neill
So Olivia Neill was gone for approximately 3 weeks which was enough time for the whole of the Olivia Neill army to go into full blown melt down. Hours turned into days which turned into nights of constantly refreshing her social media pages to find any sign of life, re-watching old videos and Tik Toks only fuelled the nostalgia and some fans lost all hope completely, giving in to the fact that she may never return.
But on February 17th 2021 she returned to YouTube.
A simple but highly sought-after return with ‘a day in my life vlog’, exactly what fans were itching for. Obsessed with everything about her, a mundane life vlog provided everything we needed: An update on her life, a sign she was still functioning and a glimpse at her wardrobe trends, almost a month on.
Of course, she did not disappoint, instantly making her mark on the bobble pigtail hair effect trend, which understandably has filled up our Instagram feed ever since.
Paired with a matching black tracksuit which she ‘spent a lot of money on’ and of course the shoe that’s taken the fashion world by storm, light blue Jordan 1s, notoriously expensive due to a mass influx of re-sellers.
The most anticipated video return of 2021 was met with an immediate response from fans across all social media platforms, firstly taking to twitter to share their built-up excitement. And as you guessed before long the #OliviaNeill was top trending.
The large majority of comments made were positive, praising her for her apology video, sharing excitement that she hasn’t quit YouTube and condemning others for how upset she seems.
This is all well and good but was it not these very people who were sharing and liking videos ‘exposing’ her and ‘dragging’ her down? Why must we insist, in modern social media culture, on building people up, only to tear them apart.
Swiftly followed by repeating the whole process all over again.
Miss Neill starts the video almost seemingly normally, showing her waking up and explaining her plans for the day, followed by the apology video imbedded within which beings “some of you may have noticed I haven’t posted”. (Not a single DAY went by where we didn’t think about it).
The 19-year-old YouTuber faced some criticism that she seemed insincere, the video was scripted and almost fake.
Of course, it was scripted!
She is apologising for a big thing to a big audience, she doesn’t want to get it wrong for fear of another cancellation! But just because an apology is scripted, it doesn’t mean its fake.
The video seemed lacklustre to begin with and many fans commented on how Olivia was not herself and also on the verge of tears during the apology part. She is clearly hurt from the hate comments and worried for her career and future on the platform just as any of us would be.
Much to contrary belief, a big part of being in the public eye, a social media influencer or a YouTuber is playing an act.
— she has to act upset to truly show remorse. Perhaps the only remorse she feels is because her name has been tarnished but even so, if she hadn’t had been looking upset you all would have accused her for not taking accountability. When it comes to social media there is simply no action without bad consequence, nothing you can do which will keep people happy.
You can never do right in the public eye.
The apology consisted of Olivia admitting she made a “stupid” and “selfish mistake” as she met people outside of her “bubble”. In the video she takes full responsibility and apologises for not making a sooner return, however, she explains that she didn’t feel comfortable bringing negativity to a positive platform as she was “quite affected” by the hate.
Drugs and Studs?
Olivia made no reference to the alleged rumours that she had been partaking in drug use nor the alleged rumours of the recent love interest in her video.
Despite this she did allude to “false rumours and people talking about me a lot on social media”.
As well as this, the supposed hotel hunk in question, Elmo Films made comments on the recent drama in best friend Carmie Sillettos video (touchdalight) featuring Millie T. In which he said “there is YouTube and personal life, if you know something wasn’t meant to be public don’t chase it” and Carmie adds “no one was supposed to know anything about that”.
Carmie also mentions how “we didn’t sign up to be influencers, we just make videos in our bedrooms, why do we have to influence people to be good”
Fans immediately filled up the YouTube comments section expressing their love for her and sharing excitement as well as others praising her for taking the time to apologise.
Other fans also commented on the fact she was not herself in the video which has perhaps led people to question whether the cancellation procedure was too harsh and has affected her mental health.
Other comments also pointed out how there are many people flouting lockdown rules which although is wrong, is happening every day. Others highlighted how just because she is in the public eye, she is being scrutinised for what everyone is already doing.
Why is an apology video so important to get right?
The history of apology videos has somewhat become a meme. Whilst an apology video is meant to own up for mistakes, correct their self-image and show deep appreciation for subscribers and remorse. Many have commented on the standard format of an apology video and how it has almost become laughable: sat down against a plain background, face in hands, squeezing out tears and BAD acting.
With so many YouTubers being cancelled, there are certainly a surplus of apology videos to watch in order to perfect your own.
Just have a look at these and you’ll see what I mean:
— Tati Westbrook (starts crying within first 40 seconds), James Charles (award pauses, ASMR warning) , Laura Lee(worst fake crying ever), Logan Paul (surely we all remember this one 😮)
But of course, social media culture is based on bullying people, then bullying people to make an apology video to then bullying them about the apology video once it is posted.
Olivia Neill’s apology video was shortly followed by Flossies which was somewhat more natural and then a short while later Lookingforlewys posted his — all following the same format.
After her YouTube return Olivia Neill re-joined her other social media platforms:
On 23rd February she made her debut Instagram post, reeling in 257,000 likes making it her most liked photo ever.
Followed by her return to Tik Tok on 26th February with a ‘thank you’ for 1 million followers. This was the platform she was latest to return to (a week and a half after the YouTube video) as this is where she gained the most hate.
What’s happened since?
Since the Queen returned, she has gotten more comfortable on social media, posting frequent Tik Toks and Instagram posts.
She has also posted 2 new videos on YouTube, trying viral Tik Tok foods (all the foods that were on trend during her absence including little moons) and also an amazon ordering video in which she has collaborated with Molly Mae and Addison Rae — it seems her fellow YouTubers have not lost support for her either.
Hopefully we will all make this a lesson to stop cancelling people so easily.
Be Kind: https://www.mind.org.uk
