Are selfie filters ruining your mental health?

Whether it’s an influencer, your best friend, or yourself, we all know someone who edits their pictures. It’s an easy boost of confidence. But how is the new norm of editing pictures before posting on social media really affecting our mental health? To really put this in perspective, I decided to edit some of my own pictures.

Words: Olivia Withers lip tint to live up to unrealistic standards of beauty.” Some influencers promote makeup but when the viewers goes to buy the product and it doesn’t work as well as they saw online, they may begin to wonder if they’re different to anyone else or if they’ve done something wrong, when in reality, it’s been completely edited.

It can be hard to tell if someone has edited their pictures, especially if they are micro-edited. This means only slight adjustments have been made, such as cinching the waist in, widening hips to give the effect of a bigger bum or maybe just covering up some spots or blemishes.

When conducting a survey of 16 people aged 18-25, we found that 38% thought micro-editing is worse for your mental health than obviously edited pictures. This could be because it gives the impression that it’s not normal to have hip dips, under eye bags or blemishes, creating low self-esteem and body image as a result of this editing as it can look so believable and natural. Not only does this affect the viewers of these posts, but in some cases, the ones creating them who then can’t see themselves properly without the edits created, enhancing the chance of body dysmorphia.

On the right is a photo of myself, which is perfectly fine (may I say so myself), but I’ve micro-edited some parts of my face, can you tell where? Doing this myself made me feel very insecure. I began flicking between the edited and unedited versions to see the differences and was shocked by the original image of myself. It was actually quite upsetting to see the huge difference I had created without even realising, just by pressing a couple of buttons on my phone.

On the other hand, editing can completely boost our confidence. Although there are some negative effects of editing, in the survey, we found that 62% of people thought it’s alright to edit pictures sometimes and 25% said it’s completely okay. One respondent said, “Luckily, I’ve come to realise almost everyone edits their photos and I no longer compare myself to peoples ‘best bits’ online. In the past, I developed anorexia, which was not helped by seeing influencers on TikTok and Instagram who clearly do not look that way in real life because bodies are bound to have rolls, but no one will show that when we’re trying to portray our best selves.” Filters and editing almost work the same way as makeup, like removing a spot or softening your face, but when is enough, enough?

Sometimes, editing out a spot or two isn’t too bad but where exactly is too far? One respondent said, “I worry about the harmful standard it sets for young girls, especially when they start wondering why they don’t look like these pics on social media when they’re impossible to achieve. It creates so much insecurity and body dysmorphia.” The latest 2022 Ofcom report states that 98% of 16-24 year olds use social media, spending an average of two and a half hours on it everyday. Consistent exposure to filters and images that are edited on social media can cause unhealthy obsessions with users, leading to life debilitating disorders, such as body dysmorphia or anorexia nervosa to try and achieve these impossible bodies.

Recently, Gen Z has fought to return Instagram back to its casual posting as it once was in its early days. Some influencers and celebrities, such as Emma Chamberlain (the mother of Gen Z), Dua Lipa and Matilda Djerf all have adopted the healthy ‘casual Instagram’. This creates a healthier and friendlier place to be on Instagram and following these influencers and celebs can easily make you feel like a friend of theirs. It shows that everyone lies in bed, everyone has bags and everyone has off days! It is refreshing to see content that is natural, yet still posting the best parts of life to social media.

When influencers and celebrities want to showcase a brand they’re working with, they need to prove it works to the public. In some cases, advertisements like these are often a fad, especially on TikTok. When asked if editing pictures creates an unrealistic expectation of beauty and lifestyle, one respondent said, “Yes. Say if it’s for a skin product and the person has edited the photo to make it look like they have perfect skin, it makes people think it works when in reality, it doesn’t.”. Hygiene brand, Dove, who clarifies there is ‘no digital distortion’ to their images, found that “77% of women believe media images are digitally altered” and “69% of women felt anxiety from advertising and media

There is no sign of filters going away anytime soon, but as long as we educate ourselves, begin to focus on our own mental health and love our bodies as they are, filters don’t have to be seen as a negative and more of an enhancement to people’s looks and their confidence. With casual posting coming back, we can unfollow the accounts that flaunt a false body image and revert back to the nostalgic times of Instagram, before everyone was so obsessed with how they look to everyone else, other than themselves.