Filters on social networks have been with us for a few years. There are more and more sophisticated. And hundreds of studies point to the effects these have on people, from impacting on the self-esteem of each even having the power to popularize certain beauty standards. But, like all technology, there comes a day when a tipping point arises, an unexpected disruption that changes everything. Something that brings up a debate and makes us question everything.
That moment has come.
Last Sunday, social networks and many of the technological media like ours we echoed a new TikTok filter. He drew attention for being one of the most realistic we have ever seen in an app.
Like most filters, it uses a type of technology of facial recognition that algorithmically maps facial features of the person looking for differences and contrasts. Once it has detected all those points, it applies a kind of “mesh” that points out where the different features are and the artificial intelligence distorts them or applies changes to them, as it sees fit based on its machine learning.
The filter in question is called “Bold Glamour” but unlike others where if you run your hand over your face it sings too much that there’s a filter on it, everything is quite natural here, seeming that we are seeing the real face of a person with a few touches of makeup. come on, what it doesn’t look like a filter. In addition, users can move and gesture on the screen without anything happening to the filter, which is incredibly realistic.
— memo akten (@memotv) February 26, 2023
Specifically, as our colleagues from Genbeta have analyzed in detailbrings to your face the beauty standards that have been set by most celebrities current How can the Kardashians be?: fuller lips, more marked cheekbones, narrow nose, raised eyebrows, a touch of “foxy eyes”, no dark circles or wrinkles or labial folds. Everything that appears when you get older. In the networks there are those who speak directly of returning to adolescence.
Equally noteworthy is the sexist bias seems to have the algorithm in this case. When the effect is used on women, it results in a stereotypically more “girly” image, giving them a made-up look and, as we’ve mentioned before: eye shadow, lip filler, and raised eyebrows. But the end result is completely different for men, where there is barely a slight “enhancement” but no makeup seems to be added. It’s like TikTok wants us to know that when you’re a woman, you have to look perfect on social media.
The effect seems to do different things to different ppl. On men in general it’s very subtle (not so subtle on women, much harsher & unrealistic expectations). But even on men it’s not just “makeup”, it makes structural changes (which is trivial once it builds the face 3d mesh). pic.twitter.com/K47mJx1XOu
— memo akten (@memotv) February 27, 2023
And it has been precisely the launch of TikTok’s “Bold Glamour” filter, which has made many users wonder if the technology has gone too far this time. First, for the simple fact that if no one tells you it’s a filter, you don’t realize it. And second, because we can think that people are really that beautiful and create false insecurities. Of course, all these concerns are valid, but to criticize something like this, perhaps we should look closely at what society itself is like. And why it has led us to create filters like this one.
More filters, more surgeries
In the end, technology is a reflection of society. And what this filter has done is reflect the biases and the problems that we already have. We live in the age of cosmetic surgery where cosmetic procedures such as Botox or BBL (Brazilian butt lift), have multiplied in recent years. At Magnet we have talked about it and how some models have laid the foundations for all these surgeries widespread in the world.
But on the other hand, there is a certain vicious circle. And that is where the problem is. Filters not only respond to existing beauty standards, but real-life beauty standards are changing in response to filters. In fact, as discussed in this BBC reportadolescent girls who use filters are more likely to consider cosmetic surgery and plastic surgeons report an increase in the number of clients requesting surgeries that make them more like their filters.
He Boston Medical Center talks about this new phenomenon known as “dysmorphia of the selfies“ to refer to a new type of patients who they are turning more and more to the consultations of plastic surgeons.
And the problem is even worse when we consider that these filters tend to be racially biased, based on stereotypically “white” features. The “Teen” filter, for example, makes anyone look like a teenager. And several experts have criticized this product because it normalizes the sexualization of children, allowing any older person to pose erotically as a teenager and deceive other users.
Self-esteem problems and disorders
On the other hand, dozens of recent studies show that filters have made users look uglier and have more insecurities, leading to worse psychological well-being. This investigationfor example, found that when girls ages 14 to 18 were shown selfies original and retouched, they were less satisfied with themselves and their bodies.
Other research by Dove suggests that 85% of girls had used a make-up app by the age of 13 and that 1 in 2 say they had low self-esteem from toxic beauty content on social media.
this other study of the Open University of Catalonia goes further and concludes that this type of filter can lead to a syndrome called body dysmorphic disorder (or BDD). It is a distorted perception of the image one has of oneself and this leads to developing obsessive-compulsive behaviors. And the most worrying thing is that it normally appears before the age of majority, at 16 years of age.