The first guest on this week’s episode, Hailey Borg, is a(n excellent) Social Media Executive at Lovin Malta, who works to carefully curate content for several hundred thousand followers across a variety of platforms – whilst also running personal accounts, where her social media story began.

“I had so much free time, because I stopped school and COVID was starting to kick off, and I realised while looking at Pinterest, that everyone’s body was so perfect, everyone’s legs were so perfect.”

“My main eczema is in my legs,” said Hailey.

“I decided to just post about it, and see. I didn’t expect anything to come from it. I just wanted to show that this is what I look like, and then it just kind of… went all over.”

Hailey started to make a name for herself publicly when she made the choice to share her experience with eczema, spreading a message of body-positivity that would help many people feel represented, feel seen, and feel as though they were not alone in having to learn how to love their own bodies.

From that point, she found her way to Lovin Malta, where she turned private social media experience into expertise which continues to drive her through her professional role. This role, though, does require her to spend a significant amount of time on social media.

“You literally live on social media, you work on social media,” implored Sasha, “how do you cope?”

“Its been a bit of a tough mental journey where I’ve had to stop, and my day ends at a certain time, and my life starts at a certain time.”

“I can’t spend 24 hours a day thinking of posts, thinking of ideas, thinking of social media, at some point, I was going to burn out. I’m still trying to find the balance between working, and my life, but we’re getting there.”

Madeleine Baldacchino is a scientist, beekeeper, influencer and model. While excelling in this unconventional synchronicity of roles, Madeleine is an ardent environmentalist with over a hundred thousand social media followers.

Similarly to Hailey, Madeleine took to social media to celebrate and promote body positivity, though from a different angle entirely.

“I’ve been a model for thirteen years,” said Madeleine, “and for a long time, all the models I used to see were very heavily tanned. The beauty standards, at least at the time, were based on everyone having this picture-perfect golden skin.”

“That made me feel quite shy. Especially living in Malta, a Mediterranean island, people tell me I need to get some sun, that I’m too pale, they’ve asked if I’m sick.”

In response to these comments, Madeleine decided to push back against the wave of oppressive body standards.

“I started posting photos with no makeup and getting a lot of attention for it, for saying that its okay, that it’s beautiful to be pale-skinned,” said Madeleine.

Taryn Mamo Cefai is a radio host, actress and traveling social media personality who’s spent time involved in a lot of different media nooks and crannies.

“I’ve delved into a lot of different parts of media, and I’ve learned a lot,” said Taryn.

“I’m still learning, but my social media story started when I was an actress. I had done a TV-series called Strada Stretta.”

The ensuing conversation, led by the questions of Sasha Vella, who is an accomplished journalist and social media personality in her own right, delved into the intricacies of seeking to be one’s authentic, genuine self whilst also satisfying the sometimes unknowable needs and requirements of an app’s programming.

“Did you ever feel as though you’ve become a slave to the algorithm?” asked Sasha, “And only posting things that you think the algorithm will pick up?”

Everyone around the table nodded.

“Unfortunately, the right thing doesn’t really always sell,” responded Taryn. 

“And that’s a problem when it comes to thinking about who you are and what you want to promote.”

“Obviously it’s not fun when something doesn’t do well, especially when it means so much to you.”

All of these young women have worked hard to achieve their respective goals through social media, but their conversation makes it clear that their boundaries continue to be pushed and challenged by the prospect of continuing to benefit from, whilst sacrificing so much to the platforms that bind so many of us.

There are rarely broadly applicable, simple, cookie-cutter answers to our existential social media dilemmas, but there are a lot of different perspectives.

Connecting these, and bringing together a group of individuals who may not otherwise have the opportunity to share their experiences, thoughts and lessons learned, is all that we can hope to do to glean a glimpse at the bigger picture.

If you’re interested in that bigger picture, or in learning more about three fascinating guests and a consistently engaging host, tune in to episode four of The She Word – Young Women’s Edition!

Lovin Malta is The She Word’s official media partner, and will continue to provide updates as the show progresses, enriching the Maltese media landscape by injecting fresh perspectives which can no longer be overlooked.

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