The social media queens who failed to read the room in 2020 | hornery
Devastating bushfires, floods, pandemics, social isolation, job losses, businesses going bust, unprecedented debt, crushing trade wars ... by any measure 2020 has been a pretty crap year for most of us.
Scrolling through the vacuous social media feeds of those living in this gilded digital cage, it would appear many have been enjoying a blissful life of glamorous abundance in a virtual parallel universe as the real world went to hell in a hand basket. Mid-year I upset a few old contacts by posting a smiley face emoji wearing a face mask after photos were shared from a luncheon held in the garden of a Sydney mansion attended by several high profile media and public relations types kissing and hugging as half the country was going into lockdown.
Even as the latest northern beaches COVID cluster sent a cold chill through Sydney and the rest of Australia last week - effectively ruining Christmas for thousands of people - over on the #PartyWithNardy Instagram feed it was all about yet another over-styled phoney party, this one a mock Christmas celebration, and once again featuring the same group of genetically-blessed and privileged women who seem to be at all her other events.
Then there are those who - unlike Fairfax - don't need to post anything to earn a living, like Fairfax's good friend, Aussie Homes heiress Deborah Symond O'Neil, who posts daily selfies in her latest designer outfits and documents her gorgeous "tablescaped" luncheons in colour-coded detail .