Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Once again, my notifications are rampant as my friends argue about which photos we should post from our dinner last night. One of my friends is insistent on including our group photo in the post, while my other friend argues her acne is especially obvious in it. After what feels like hundreds of messages, the debate ended by deciding to blur my friend’s acne using FaceTune, a photo-editing application that allows users to digitally alter their appearance on their cellphones.
My friend is one of the 90% of young women who report using a filter or editing their photos before posting with FaceTune and other similar apps, according to Science Daily. My first instinct is to judge her for editing the photo, but upon further reflection, I realize that social media is about how people choose to present themselves. If creating that image of herself does not negatively impact anyone else, why should that invite criticism? At the end of the day, if what a person posts on social media makes them happy and does directly hurt anyone else, others should not rob them of their happiness by judging them.
Women are constantly being told how they should appear: their hair, their outfits and their makeup, not to mention which body type is trending is constantly shifting. With the popularity of GLP1-s and weight loss drugs rising in popularity, skinny is now trending, pushing all other body types aside. With near impossible standards to keep up with, photo editing apps become an accessible way to instill confidence in women when posting on social media. In a society where women are constantly judged for the smallest of actions, we should move toward not further restricting women, including if that applies to photo editing apps. While teaching people not to judge so harshly can be important, using photo editing apps is a practical way to manage the pressures people, especially teenagers, inevitably face. This argument is not unique to women, with the rise of peptides and steroids and trends such as “looksmaxxing’’ creating similar pressures among young men.
Moreover, social media is an inherently shallow and inauthentic platform. 77% of teenagers who use social media agree people are less real on social media than they are offline, according to a study conducted by Pew Research. Though efforts to be more authentic can add a sense of realism to the platform, social media is not designed to showcase unflattering parts of people’s lives.
By removing the stigma surrounding editing photos, people are more likely to realize they should not compare themselves to other’s social media feeds. Instead of shaming people for curating their feeds, people are more accepting of editing photos, given the era of unrealistic expectations we are living in.
