“Made with Effect” — Life Through Rose-Tinted Glasses
Picture this - it’s 2030 and we find ourselves in Black Mirror territory. With the latest technology we’re able to add a strong sepia grain, airbrush our skin texture or have butterflies fluttering around our heads in our IRL (In Real Life) moments. Inspired by and created out of our online presence we now have an everyday filter, so we can be Instagram-ready in the real world.
Now, not only do we feel pressure to filter ourselves digitally, it’s also become second nature to do so walking to the shop or the bus stop. In just one short decade our lives have morphed from Instagram posts being captioned with ‘Made with Effect’ to a constant subtitle quoting ‘Made with Effect’ as we pass strangers in the street. As farfetched as this sounds, I wouldn’t be surprised if we weren’t too far off this being our future reality…
#Filtered
According to Dazed Media, 21% of people prefer their life online to IRL. What began with a seemingly innocent dog face Snapchat filter has grown uncontrollably into a gigantic library with a huge variety of options to try. Without needing to be a Photoshop pro, you can try airbrushed skin, change your eye colour, lip size and face shape alongside so much more, essentially transforming your entire face until it’s completely unrecognisable.
“…we’re all seeing the world through our phones, plugged into the matrix and doomscrolling through images that are increasingly difficult to decipher as real or fake, genuine or counterfeit, fact or fiction. “We see our world through a filter — perfected, polished, conformed, photoshopped. Technology creates alternate realities and identities, a world of digital clones.” read Balenciaga’s show notes.” -i-D
We now have the ability to remove any kind of natural texture our skin has to offer or elongate our eyelashes to extremes in order to be perceived in a better light by our ‘followers’. In doing this, and being given these tools, as a generation we have somewhat lost the understanding of our natural self and are beginning to believe that it’s normal to be filtered.
Robot Influencers & Deep-Fakes
Recently, our understanding of reality has been completely reframed by technology. Take the deep-fake Balenciaga SS22 show which was broadcast on Instagram just this month — if there was ever a turning point for the future of the fashion show, this is it.
To clarify, the show titled ‘Clones’, didn’t actually happen. It was a CGI production - there was only one model, her face photogrammetry-captured and CG-scanned onto deep-fake models wearing the real collection. Mind-blown (and slightly disturbed).
On the topic of deep-fakes, the introduction of personalities like self-proclaimed robot influencer Lil Miquela, has also forced us to ask deeper questions and look into where the line between reality and AR sits. As we become more and more comfortable with AR and ourselves with the addition of an Instagram filter, it’s becoming difficult to understand where the constant need to change or ‘update’ yourself will stop.
‘Zoom Boom’?!
With increasing numbers of people taking photos of their filtered self into cosmetic enhancement clinics to visually explain how they want to look, the questions regarding the harmful and controlling effects the add-ons on social media can have on a person truly do begin to rise. Where will this end? The end line is blurry and for me, as a young person cultivating their journey through this world, it becomes a little worrying for my generation and even more so for the next.
According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), there was a 70% rise in requests for video consultations for new cosmetic procedures in 2020 — It’s now being referred to as the ‘Zoom Boom’. A third of plastic surgeons surveyed saw a surge in men seeking cosmetic procedures to make them “Zoom-ready”. Apparently, even “‘Lockdown Face’ has become a thing”.
“Dr Salinda Johnson, medical director at the London Cosmetic Clinic, said: “As people are on Zoom calls a lot they have seen themselves in detail from the screen and find some concerns that need correction, for example wrinkles, dark eye circles and face sagging.” — The Times
From reading this I began to dig deeper and learned about ‘perceptual distortion’, the notion that the more we continue to obsess over our image the more we will begin to focus all of our attention disproportionately on a single flaw until it becomes magnified. The reasoning behind this has been amplified due to the fact we are now confronted with ourselves on our laptop and phone screens over and over again every single day, allowing us to obsess over our body image and its supposed flaws. This, alongside being in lockdown meant we had more time than ever to sit, think and research into the ways we can ‘edit’ ourselves. This unwritten rule that you were to come out of this lockdown as the ‘best version of yourself’ just isn’t true - it’s unhealthy, and can be damaging to many.
With 56% of people feeling stressed or anxious it is only natural that so many of us are beginning to look at life in a different way (source: The Health Foundation). Personally, I found living on my own for a large part of lockdown gave me a lot of time to think (and over-think), so I can understand this influx of cosmetic surgery patients. For me I spent a lot of time introducing exercise into my routine as I have always found it beneficial for my mental health - I would recommend this to anyone, as if I wasn’t doing something like this for myself I would easily take to overthinking about the smallest of things.
Body-Diverse Brands
Over the last few years, we’ve seen an increase in brands including different body shapes and sizes, body hair, stretch marks and moles in their product images. The inclusion of untouched images within massive online retailers such as ASOS is a huge step in the right direction, all with the mission to combat this idea of ‘the perfect body’.
Even though the developments have been small they are incremental, and are prominent in the eyes of the consumer. So, for me the girl that just wanted to see someone who’s body had texture and markings just like mine did, I can appreciate these baby steps so much, even if there is still a long way to go.
New-Era Social Platforms
With new social media platforms being introduced, now could be the opportunity for the serious, over-curated aspects of the web to take a back seat. Against curated Instagram feeds and highlight reels, platform ‘Poparazzi’ is focused on preserving authentic moments and allows a space in which your friends photos populate your profile - almost like your tagged section on Instagram - allowing fun, freeing, non-staged images to find their way back onto your feed. It takes away the pressure to be perfect and is less about promoting yourself - “on Poparazzi, you are your friend’s paparazzi, and they are yours.”
“Over the last decade our feeds have become increasingly filled with edited, seemingly effortless perfection. When we post about ourselves, we naturally gravitate towards sharing only the most exciting moments in our life. We over-edit photos and write witty captions in an attempt to portray our best selves. The result: a competition for attention where nobody wins. The more we scroll, the more we feel like we don’t stack up. And so the cycle continues…” — The Anti Selfie Selfie Club, Poparazzi
Another newly released app called ‘BeReal’ is something that you and your loved ones can again get involved in together. Every day at a random time the app will alert your friend group to take a picture within 2 minutes. The image will be authentic, and showcase you in your daily life, capturing moments quickly without any form of social pressure. Something that is pretty unique in times like these.
Logging off..
Overall, it’s clear that with the introduction of more and more technology the way we view ourselves will be an ever-changing journey, which I can only hope will be a positive one.
With whatever is introduced to us in the future, it’s important above all to remember that beauty comes from within, and that there is no one else like you. Check in with yourself occasionally, to check that everything you’re doing in this life is for you, and not for the appreciation of other people. Try to be positive, confident in yourself and always remember that what you see online is not reality, you are.
