The Filter Effect (Thanks Maria)

We are the generation of social media and vanity. It’s true, we can’t deny it. It’s not technically a bad thing as I believe we’re also the generation of self love and feeling body confident, no matter who you are or what insecurities you hold. We love ourselves and we especially love taking selfies. Some may even call us the selfie generation.

I love a good selfie. If you look through my camera roll, there will be be hundreds of selfies, most of them will probably look the same, because a lot of the time I use selfies to feel good about myself. If I did my makeup or my hair real good, if I’m really feeling how my body looks in the outfit I’m wearing, you know that I’ll be spending half an hour in my bedroom getting the perfect selfie to post online, or even just keep for myself.

However, this post isn’t about selfie culture. I have no problems with selfie culture. My main issue is actually a concern, which lies within the beginnings of snapchat.

Snapchat to me was one of the beginnings of excessive selfie taking. I know for a lot of people, their first choice for a good selfie is to pop open snapchat and begin scrolling away at the many filters. Before I continue, I do want to pinpoint a couple disclaimers;

1. Yes. I am aware that snapchat is super fun.
2. It is your life, you do whatever you feel comfortable and happy doing, however this is simply a concern that I want to address and I’m curious if other people feel the same.

Snapchat made me hate myself.

We went through a phase, especially as young women, where a lot of us used snapchat as our main source for taking selfies. I get it, they make us look beautiful and can provide a confidence within yourself that is sometimes hard to find. But it is so bad when you become dependent on that.

The snapchat selfie you take is NOT YOU. It’s the distorted you. With paler skin, brighter and bigger eyes, chiselled cheeks and softer skin. Please be aware and cautious of this when you take snapchat selfies excessively.

I remember when I first noticed this. I was barefaced, bored at home and I wanted to send a selfie to a friend. I was scrolling through all the different filters, from dogs to cats, to love hearts around my head, to flower crowns and beards, until I got to the end and there was no filter. I looked at myself for ages and was horrified, because suddenly I remembered what I actually looked like and began feeling really down about myself. I resorted to a flower crown selfie, those tended to be my favourite, because I was certain they made me more beautiful. Then, I continued to do this, constantly just using snapchat as my saviour to fall back on.

It got worse when I looked in the mirror and began to feel the same feeling, that I’m not pretty enough, I went through a phase where I genuinely hated what I looked like and decided I had to delete the app and I needed to start rebuilding my self confidence. I made a promise to myself that I would only take photos on my camera, raw, until the day that I start loving them. That was the best decision of my life.

I no longer rely on filters, even on the days where I do feel a bit more shit about myself. But being honest with myself felt so much nicer than lying to myself, taking a selfie with a filter that looked nothing like me.

This is more of a comment and something I want to ask you all who are reading this. Do you depend on filters?