But you can pull back and live happily ever after (on Insta, at least).
And as this digital lens becomes our permanent reality, the way we see ourselves is massively shifting. “These alterations divorce you from reality–nobody glows, sparkles, and has perfect abs 24/7 in real life.” The always-documenting culture we exist in already sets hard-to-reach beauty standards. “It seems harmless at first, but a slight edit here and a slight edit there can spiral into obsessive-compulsive tendencies around body image,” Dr. There’s even augmented-reality winged eyeliner, lashes, and lipstick. Other user-made filters alter your face more dramatically in just a swipe, enlarging your eyes, slimming your nose, or sharpening your jawline. Filters such as “Paris” subtly blur out pores. (To give an idea: In late 2018, the company also reported 100+ million downloads across its apps Facetune is the most popular one.)Įven if you’re not going out of your way to pay $3.99 for Facetune, you might be one of the 1 billion people using built-in face perfectors across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Portal (these effects also exist on apps like Snapchat and TikTok). That’s on top of Facetune’s already outsize influence. Plus, people spent more than 25 percent more time than usual editing their videos. These women are not alone in their usage-Facetune’s parent company, Lightricks, reported that as social distancing began, use of its apps increased 20 percent. “Instagram has been tied to anxiety and depressive symptoms, but also to concerns such as anxiety related to physical appearance, increased body dissatisfaction, and lower self-esteem.” And now that we’re spending more minutes on these platforms, “we can assume these concerns have not only remained but increased,” Amadi says. “There’s a well-established link between social-media usage and psychological concerns,” says Peace Amadi, PsyD, an associate psychology professor at Hope International University in California. In a world where even Zoom (the video-conferencing app’s number of users reportedly surged by the millions in April alone) has a “touch up my appearance” option, how much does this selfie-gazing damage our mental health? All signs point to…a whole lot. (Facebook, its parent company, occupied the top spot.) This means we could be staring at-and, inevitably, evaluating-our faces more than ever. Meanwhile, Instagram was the second-most-used social platform, with about 50 percent of U.S. In the first month of lockdown, Internet provider Comcast reported a 60 percent increase in its peak network traffic in some regions. We livestream remote workout classes from our favorite fitness instructors. We have telemedicine checkups with doctors. Forced to transform our homes into hubs for work and play, life has hit peak virtual: We go on FaceTime dates. In the era of social distancing, former simple pleasures, like travel, going to a bar, attending concerts, and more, halted. This all-too-familiar spiral has only been amplified in 2020 as my screen time–like everyone else’s–has gone up dramatically. But if I spend long enough scrolling through filtered-to-perfection influencers, celebrities, and regular people I know who take a damn good picture, it’s very tempting to start a mental wish list of things I could change: a more defined jawline, higher cheekbones, smoother skin, the list goes on. The truth is, the natural pout I was born with is one of my favorite features. “Should I get lip injections?” is a question that runs through my mind almost every time I use Instagram (that is, up to 24 hours a week).
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