The Instagram account of a Barbie doll which satirises the perfect "hipster" world of social media has finally closed - and its creator has revealed herself.
"Socality Barbie" shows Barbie, and occasionally her "friend" Kent, in landscapes and coffee shops appearing to be as happy and fulfilled as so many Instagram profiles on the social media platform.
But it was the comic ruse of Darby Cisneros, a photographer from Portland, who wanted to draw attention to the "inauthentic" way people portray their lives online, Wired.co.uk reported.
Her dry tone and obvious mockery won her more than 1.3 million followers, and even the offer of free flights to Iceland from Icelandair because it is a favourite hang-out of "hipsters" according to the airline.
In a post to her followers, Ms Cisneros said:
"Hey guys, my name is Darby Cisneros and I am the creator of SocalityBarbie. I just wanted to introduce myself and thank all of you for enjoying this account.
"I started SB as a way to poke fun at all the Instagram trends that I thought were ridiculous.
"Never in 1 million years did I think it would receive the amount of attention that it did but because of that it has open the door to a lot of great discussions like: how we choose to present ourselves online, the insane lengths many of us go to to create the perfect Instagram life, and calling into question our authenticity and motives.
"It's been a blast running this account but I believe SB's work here is done."
Socality Barbie's creator added there was a growing awareness about social media placing pressure on young people to appear to have perfect lives, Wired.co.uk reported.
Ms Cisneros said she'd been glad to help spark the conversation but now wanted to "call it quits". She emphasised that the account was not for sale.
