The filter feature on photos of yourself and others can be fun, from making your friends look silly to creating aesthetically pleasing images to post on your feed. But if you really pay attention to what these filters do, you may start to see where the the problems may lie.
With the youth of today growing up in a world that revolves around the internet and seeing what their favourite influencers are doing, false expectations of life and self image starts to become the norm. The new beauty standards for every gender are unrealistic and hard to reach. From tiny noses to tiny waists, its hard for anyone to become completely satisfied with their appearance.
Snapchat and Instagram filters are widely popular and are used to enhance images to make people feel more confident in their selfies, but the issue behind this is what the filters do. A lot of the enhancements when using these tools tend to slightly slim your face while making your eyes appear bigger and your nose smaller. Although these are just tiny differences, when young people use these tools as a way to feel pretty, it could start to create a false reality of how they should appear, which could cause self confidence issues and dysmorphia.
Make-up student, Grace Elliott (age 18) told us that “It makes you feel like your face isn’t good enough, and that they think so to because they’re completely changing it.”
The internet can be a very useful tool, but it’s important not to lose your sense of reality.
NewAbnormal 