TikTok: the dangers of the app’s beauty filters – 03/07/2023 – Balance

When I discovered “beauty filters” – designed to “improve” appearance and popular on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat – one of my first reactions was to think that it “resets the game” for everyone.

Before the pandemic, I would put on a little makeup when I went out. It made me feel more attractive, and the difference in how people treated me when I put on mascara only reinforced that perception.

But then came lockdown, working from home, and having a baby. Finding the time and motivation to put on lipstick seemed like a thing of the past.

So when I first saw a filter that did this for me – or my internet presence, anyway – I was blown away.

And I had to ask myself: is there such a difference between spending 15 minutes on my makeup or putting a filter on my photo published on the internet?

As beauty filters become more sophisticated, new critics are emerging decrying their potential effects on everything from our self-esteem to their power to popularize a certain standard of beauty.

This week, with TikTok’s launch of the Bold Glamor filter – which has a surprisingly flawless effect – has many users wondering if the technology has gone too far.

He can turn anyone into a top model.

These concerns and criticisms are valid, but they often miss a crucial component.

Like so many other things related to technology, beauty filters were not created in a bubble, separated from society, to later “infect” us.

They reflect – and often worsen – the prejudices and problems we already have. That is the problem.

Long before the Bold Glamor filter came along, our society already had a fetish for beauty.

And it’s not just about physical attraction: conventionally beautiful people are seen as the best at everything, the smartest, and this is even reflected in higher incomes.

Canons of real beauty x online

The truth is that, whether with the choice of clothes or haircut, glasses or makeup, we present ourselves in a certain way – and, generally, in a way consistent with the prevailing beauty canons.

While we like to think we make these decisions based on our individual preferences, we’ve known for a long time that they’re driven by fashion styles.

There are many studies that prove this.

Even a line like the eyebrows went from the thin shapes of the 90s to the super thick shapes of the 2010s (and it’s already changing again).

Of course, there’s a difference between following beauty trends in real life and applying filters online. Cosmetics can create the illusion of more sculpted cheekbones; a beauty filter virtually sculpts them.

But in an age where highly effective, minimally invasive cosmetic procedures like Botox are becoming more popular, it’s safe to say that many people you meet in real life have had an “extra help” with their appearance.

As our ability to rejuvenate and recreate beauty canons in real life increases exponentially, it’s only natural that we’re seeing the same phenomenon on the internet. But no less troublesome.

In fact, it can be a vicious cycle: not only are beauty filters responding to existing canons, but offline beauty canons are changing in response to filters.

Teenage girls who use filters, for example, are more likely to consider having cosmetic surgery.

And plastic surgeons have seen an increase in clients seeking operations to look more like their image generated by the filters.

This is even more troubling when you consider that these filters tend to be racially biased, based on stereotypical characteristics of “white” people.

Effects on perception

We are only talking about face filters. But there are many ways to retouch your body on social media, even on video.

In a way, this is nothing new. Professional models and photographers have long known that certain poses and angles can elongate the legs and narrow the waist, and so they retouch the images in editing with computer programs.

Social media influencers also often resort to these strategies.

By making it easy for anyone to shrink their waist or fill in their lips in an online video or photo, it could be argued that these filters are just making industry gimmicks more accessible.

While some applaud the increased availability of technology, it’s also true that these filters are too new for us to know how they affect self-perception and long-term mental health.

The research done so far indicates that they can make users feel worse about themselves, in part due to seeing so many other people’s images that are heavily edited and flawless.

Even before the rise of more sophisticated beauty filters, people who spent a lot of time on social media looking at other people’s idealized lives were more likely to feel psychologically bad.

The same thing happens when we see our own image with filters.

Teenagers, who are generally more vulnerable to the effects of images they see online, are at particularly high risk.

One study, for example, found that when girls between the ages of 14 and 18 were shown original or retouched selfies, they thought the edited images looked better.

Those who saw manipulated photos were less satisfied with their bodies.

While TikTok’s Bold Glamor is getting most of the press attention, there are other filters that are problematic in a different way.

One of the most disturbing is the Teen filter, also from TikTok, which makes anyone look like a teenager.

Child safety experts have expressed concern. This filter, in particular, can be used by adults who pose suggestively or wear sexually seductive clothing, for example, to trick viewers into believing they are teenagers.

This highlights – and also heightens – a dangerous aspect of society: the normalization of the sexualization of children.

Beauty filters could be another step in our cultural obsession with perfecting our appearance.

But judging by the reception they’ve gotten so far, they might go too far.

– This text was published in