Have beauty filters on social media gone too far?

Scars, pimples, cellulite, many of us have them and yet when you look at Instagram, Tik Tok or Facebook everyone looks perfect or flawless thanks to beauty filters.

This is the boon of face filters and other apps that allow you to change how you look including almost changing your features, higher cheekbones, sharper nose, bigger lips, you name it and there’s a filter for it.

But what are we advocating really, toxic beauty standards that are quite impossible in real life? TikTok’s latest filter is in fact called Bold Glamour and gives you fuller lips and make-up.

TikTok Beauty Filters

“That filter makes you feel very sad,” said one Tik Tok user.

“This is the problem… You can’t even tell it’s a filter anymore,” said content creator Rosaura Alvarez.

According to an article in Euronews.next, in countries like Norway it is illegal for advertisers and social media influencers to share promotional photos online without disclosing whether the images have been altered. France is also considering a similar law.

“We will make it mandatory to display the use of a filter or retouching on photo and video content as part of a paid partnership. We do this to limit the destructive psychological effects of these practices on the self-esteem of internet users,” said Bruno Le Maire, France’s economy minister, tweeting in March.

In the United Kingdom the Online Safety Bill is expected to be passed to regulate the same thing. But psychologists say the problem isn’t the law but society itself.

“The real problem is how people perceive themselves, not the filters per se,” said Pamela Rutledge, a media psychologist.

Researches

“Research shows that every time you label the photo as retouched, it really doesn’t do anything about body image in spite of the fact that you would think that it works.

According to a survey by the House of Commons in 2020 only 5% of people under 18 said that they wouldn’t consider changing their appearance by dieting or getting plastic surgery.

The photo above is from a YouTube screen grab