We're All Getting Social Media Dysmorphia: The Dangers of Beautifying Filters

The Take Film TV Movie

Bu video Dailymotion Python SDK ile yüklendi.

Transcript

00:00Social media doesn't just influence the way we look online.

00:03It may be permanently rewiring our brains to alter what we think we look like in real life

00:08and messing with our body images in deep ways.

00:11I don't think my brain knows how to deal with looking like this one minute,

00:15and then this the next.

00:18We are now two decades into the age of social media,

00:21but with the reigns of Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram,

00:24it's never been so easy to filter, contour, smooth,

00:27and shape our selfies into something completely different from the raw material.

00:31Devices now come with a beauty mode automatically added to the camera,

00:35regularly pushing us to stare at a supposedly better version of ourselves.

00:39This is what I actually look like.

00:41Like, your girl just got out of bed, okay?

00:43So watch out on those dating apps.

00:45So what happens when we then look in the mirror and see ourselves unfiltered?

00:49Those smoothing effects of social media filters, combined with dopamine hits from likes and shares,

00:55are a perfect cocktail to make us feel pretty bad about ourselves when we log off.

00:59You need to see what I look like right now.

01:04Oh my gosh!

01:05Hold on, let's go back to the filter.

01:07Oh my god!

01:09What's being called selfie dysmorphia, social media dysmorphia, or Snapchat dysmorphia,

01:14is leading people to sometimes get extreme surgeries on their faces to resemble something

01:18that's not actually naturally occurring.

01:20Here's our take on the problem with trying to chase a look that literally doesn't exist.

01:25Filtered skin is not a skin type.

01:30Filters used to be kind of playful.

01:32Dog ears, sunglasses, maybe a chance to see what you'd look like with a mustache.

01:37Now, they're so transformative, it's akin to seeing what you might look like after a cosmetic procedure,

01:42or what you hope to look like after one.

01:44One of these filters that's evoked intense reactions is TikTok's Teenage Filter.

01:49According to plastic surgeon Dr. Dominic Castellano,

01:52the filter removes shadow lines, boosts facial volume,

01:55and creates an even skin tone to give a much more youthful appearance.

01:59But it's an idealized artificial version of youth, applying a one-size-fits-all template.

02:04Why does this, like, kind of low-key make me sad and creep me out?

02:09The filter, coupled with emotive soundtracks like Alphaville's Forever Young, evokes a feeling of

02:13nostalgia, which then becomes equated with this smooth, unblemished appearance.

02:18But if you look at actual pictures of your youthful self,

02:20the differences between then and now are more complex and unique for each individual.

02:25My freckles were actually darker when I was younger.

02:28Anyway, if people want to believe this is really what they looked like when they were younger,

02:32it's a little bit delusional.

02:33Meanwhile, the bold glamour filter has gone viral for turning you into a quote-unquote

02:38more beautiful version of yourself.

02:40In practice, by smoothing your skin, brightening your eyes, and sculpting your facial features.

02:44Unlike other filters, it also moves seamlessly with your face.

02:48But people have already begun talking about how,

02:50while for some people the effect is relatively subtle, for some it's drastic.

02:54I do not have high cheekbones, I have a big ass nose, I have thinner lips.

02:58This? Compared to? Compared to this?

03:01The biggest point to remember is that no one actually looks like these filters in real life.

03:05Even someone like Kim Kardashian, who appears to have literally no visible skin texture,

03:10was caught looking different in her own release photos and others' photos of her at the same event.

03:15It's revealing, no doubt, that Kardashian, who's probably the most referenced face shown to plastic

03:19surgeons, is also the queen of selfies, having released the selfie coffee table book Selfish.

03:24So you can have the most top-notch cosmetic procedures, self-care, and makeup,

03:29and you still can't truly look like these edited photos.

03:32As a plastic surgeon told The Guardian, in the complexion these filters give you,

03:36your nasal labial, or laugh lines, from the nose to mouth, aren't existent.

03:40But that's not a human face. No one doesn't have those. You can see them in children.

03:45People wanting bigger eyes is another one. It's just not possible.

03:48The growing problem, though, is that this smooth,

03:51untextured face is becoming the dominant look online, where beauty filters are now ubiquitous,

03:56if not the default. It's one thing to offer filters that you can consent to turning on and off.

04:01It's another entirely when your camera adds one without you even knowing.

04:05And that's what Apple did in 2018, automatically putting their beauty mode

04:09onto their selfie camera and making it impossible to turn off.

04:12TikTok has been doing the same thing with its live streams,

04:15automatically applying a facial feminizing effect and freaking people out in the process.

04:19You see that?

04:23As long as that's still a thing, I don't feel comfortable making videos,

04:27because this is not what I look like.

04:29Soon after this was discovered, TikTok made a statement effectively

04:32saying it was a bug affecting Android users, and it was fixed in a couple of days.

04:36However, MIT Technology Reviews' Abby Olheiser found that other apps like WeChat and Duyen

04:41use this same subtle auto-filtering technique, and points out that, even if TikTok's was a glitch,

04:46it was a pretty big one given that it's used by around 100 million people in the US alone.

04:51As a result of all this, plastic surgeons say many of their patients are increasingly referring

04:59to their selfies, asking to look more like those pictures even when that's impossible.

05:04The Instagram versus real-life trend has existed for more than a decade,

05:08so people know theoretically that the images we put on social media

05:11aren't reflective of how we live or look in the real world.

05:14These kind of edits, especially these small edits, really highlight Instagram's objectification

05:19problem.

05:20But actually, that divide is getting a lot blurrier, especially when they merge in our

05:24mental self-images. The biggest indicator of how our lives online impact our lives in real life

05:29came during the pandemic, when we were forced to spend almost all of our social time through

05:33our screens. In fact, a 2018 study confirmed that computer cameras actually give more of a fishbowl

05:39view, with noses appearing around 30% larger in photos taken from 12 inches away,

05:43compared to 5 feet. The result of this was an increase in people getting cosmetic procedures

05:48to fix the imperfections, wrinkles, and asymmetries they had become intimately familiar with over

05:53the preceding lockdown. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons found 35% of its doctors

05:58surveyed believe video calls are driving interest in plastic surgery.

06:02What's clear is that while we may think our lives are separate from our lives online,

06:06in reality, our self-esteem and self-image is profoundly affected by how we see ourselves on screen.

06:12A 2019 report showed that 32% of influencers had negative body image issues from working in

06:17that industry, with another from 2017 ranking Instagram as the most dangerous social media

06:22app for young people.

06:23I love this product, you guys, so much. If you want to get this exact same look,

06:28then use my promo code SKY10 for 10% off.

06:31I f***ing hate wearing makeup on my face.

06:33As a reaction to negative reports, in 2022, Instagram allowed users the ability to turn off

06:38the likes and view counts on their pictures and reels. But while this choice is a step in the

06:42right direction, it basically acknowledges that there's a problem to begin with.

06:46Instagram's head Adam Mosseri has even admitted that the goal of images like this

06:50is to depressurize the experience a bit. Yet experimenting with the likes feature

06:55has historically had mixed reactions and results.

06:57If you want to take away the temptation to always be judging your content on likes,

07:02it's still there.

07:04And there's no true win. Perhaps it's implied that now those who have chosen to hide their likes are

07:09indicating an insecurity or an inadequate response to their page that they wish to cover up.

07:17Chasing a trend is like trying to hit a moving target that keeps changing directions.

07:21The cosmetic surgery boom in response to these TikTok trends speak to this short-termism.

07:26This is what I mean when I say I want just a little lip filler.

07:29And platforms like TikTok or phone devices that have found great success with filters

07:33are products that need to stay ahead of the curve.

07:35Surely they'll create new, even more sophisticated filters for people to try out,

07:40obsess over, and eventually feel bad about.

07:42So what can we do to stem the tide?

07:45One potential ray of hope has been the rapid growth of Be Real,

07:48which reached 73.5 million active monthly users in August 2022.

07:52The app, which gives users a two-minute window each day to post an unedited glimpse of what they

07:57happen to be doing, is almost the antithesis of beauty filters.

08:00And while it's been accused of being mundane and doesn't have the popularity of TikTok or Instagram,

08:05its huge rapid rise shows that there is demand for an image-sharing app that allows you to connect

08:10with other people, but isn't about chasing clout or misrepresenting your appearance.

08:14It's the only honest social media.

08:16You think I'm an idiot? Honest social media doesn't exist.

08:19It's also interesting to note that while globally social media usage continues to increase,

08:24since 2019, there has been a decline in use of every social media platform by users aged between

08:2918 and 25, with these users citing that their trust has been eroded by the constant changes

08:34these apps have made. While TikTok is the notable exception to that trend,

08:38it's clear that the loyalty of younger users is conditional.

08:41As soon as you press that delete button, you're just shut off from the rest of the world. Give it a try.

08:45Maybe the most hopeful thing is that users are increasingly aware of the links between these

08:50filters and issues of body dysmorphia and the negative effects social media can have

08:54on self-esteem and body image. So at least some are taking steps to improve their relationship

08:59with social media, viewing it as an important place for connection and socializing when used

09:03with appropriate limitations and boundaries. The rise of social media detoxes has been championed

09:08by people like Lizzo and Tom Holland, with one 2022 study finding that even taking a week away

09:13from socials improves well-being, depression, and anxiety. When you spend too much time on social

09:19media, then you lose a lot of moments. It's easy when you're living through trends to think that this

09:26is what it's going to be like forever. But that's not the case, and if you notice yourself feeling

09:30anxious or overwhelmed, unplugging might be the easiest, kindest thing you can do for yourself.

09:36The conversation around body image predates social media. We had it with airbrushing in magazines

09:42and with advertisements on TV. The problem now is that people aren't being invited to compare

09:47themselves to celebrities, they're being given false images of what they could look like,

09:51and equating that with the life they could be living.

09:53I love my big nose and my unusual lips, and they really just make me who I am.

09:58But if these kind of things had been around when I was really struggling,

10:01I don't know what it could have done to how I felt.

10:03But the first step to escaping this trap is to challenge the assumption that this filtered

10:08picture of you is actually better at all.

10:10The face in the mirror may have more wrinkles or freckles or less defined cheekbones,

10:15but it's your face, and it always will be, no matter what beauty trend is going viral.

10:20That's the take. Click here to watch a video we think you'll love,

10:24or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content.

10:27Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended