The scene is becoming more and more popular: along the parks or in the mountain landscapes, one is sure to come across a teenager with an outstretched arm, forced expression on his face, taking a selfie or video. There are many possibilities that this second will end on TikTok to offer the verdict of its viewers: praise, ridicule … Social networks do not forgive and the social pressure that (teenagers) are subjected to most brutally. In this sense, a new filter on TiklTok revolutionizes this social network, and some critical voices warn of its danger.
We are referring to Bold Glamor, a filter that applies an algorithm by which the face is rejuvenated, wrinkles disappear and features are highlighted. You might be thinking: “Didn’t this exist before?” And yes, the answer is yes, what sets this new filter apart is the precision with which it transforms the face and makes it look younger.
It shouldn’t be legal
Applying this filter is similar to applying the other precedents: Once you open TikTok, tap on the “+” icon and then, on “Effects,” where you will see the Bold Glamor filter represented by two faces. It should be noted that it is not yet available in all markets, so it is likely that it will not appear in your list of social networks. Once pressed, there are no explanations: this layer applies artificial intelligence with surgical precision to eliminate everything that makes a face ugly: wrinkles, sallowness, unmarked lines…
The transformation is imminent and the realism of this new image leaves the adult somewhat out of place and the reflex immediate: what effect does the computational application of immediate beauty have on the adolescent? “This shouldn’t be legal,” trenches Kelly Strack, who is known on the social network. Strack accompanies this statement with a sequence of his face, clean and made-up, seemingly out of bed. The viewer becomes aware of the mental trap in the same sequence when Strack deactivates the filter and shows a young woman in a normal position after she has awakened: with her dark circles and, of course, without makeup.
The transformation takes place in real time and in front of everyone’s eyes, who will tend to find the “seven differences” in one face and another to discover the keys to improvement. And it’s not an easy task: some of the tweaks are obvious, like putting on perfect makeup or removing wrinkles; Others not so much, like the outline of the face. But the shift is clear.
“It is harmful to put all our person value in the picture.”
The tyranny of beauty is ruthlessly enforced on social media, and the realism of this filter has only led to a perpetual debate on Instagram and TikTok: the enslavement of our youth to beauty standards. “It is harmful to put all the value of our person in the picture,” explains Juan Bautista Jordan, a psychologist who counts among his young patients diseases derived from social networks. This expert cites the “narcissistic reinforcement” posited by the application of cosmetic filters and its consequences: “They can cause blockages at very early stages of development.”
What do influencers think of this new filter? Spain’s Claudia García often uses filters to her more than five million followers on TikTok, and although she admits that filters can be “fun,” like those that replace a face, hair color, or eyebrows, “there are filters that can create a lot of insecurities.” . García refers to those who “retouch your face, make your lips bigger, retouch your cheekbones, and make your head smaller”; According to this popular user of the social network, these filters show you “in a way that is supposed to be perfect or beautiful and ends up creating a lot of complexes for you and I think people should not use these kinds of filters.”
This layer of algorithm-provided “props” is nothing new to TikTok: In April 2020, an Australian girl — under user, @mzznofilter — went viral with the hashtag: #catfish by posting a photo of herself that had been manipulated by Snapchat’s algorithms. , compared to your real one. In this video, the physical difference was palpable and gritty, flooding the social network with sequences in which users were shown before and after applying filters.
Bold Glamor raises the bar for perfection, in the application of the algorithm, but also in the canons of beauty to which millions of young people are exposed on the social network.
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