The Problem with the Snapchat Filters that We All Love

Alison Tobin

COM 3490A

Blog #3

The Problem with the Snapchat Filters that We All Love

            Snapchat is a way for people to communicate and send pictures of themselves or other things to other Snapchat users.  The smart phone app has kept up with the ever-changing media world.  Some of the things they have added since the app was born are the “My Story” feature in which you can upload Snapchat pictures to your story for all of your Snapchat friends to see without directly sending it to them and also the infamous filters.  Snapchat changed the game with their filters where you can distort your face or be a dog and send hilarious pictures to your friends.  We all love the Snapchat filters but there is a controversial one that serves the purpose of retouching your face.  This contributes to the issue of self-image and Photoshopping that is so prominent in the world today.  The retouching Snapchat filter is controversial because it is destroying the goal to promote confidence in your own skin, it creates an unrealistic picture of someone that can cause him or her to think that they need to look like that to be beautiful, and it gives people a way to hide their insecurities.

            It was surprising to me when I realized that the retouching filter on Snapchat existed.  A lot of people and campaigns are working on promoting your self-image and being and feeling confident of your natural un-retouched self.  It seems counter intuitive for Snapchat to create this filter of an enhanced image that fixes flaws and makes you “prettier” according to society.  An article from Atlas Magazine by Megan Breukelman titled “The Problems with Snapchat’s New Filters” says, “Glossing over my pimples and skin, changing the shape of my nose, making my eyes wider, pushing my cheekbones – it’s all the standards we take issue with in modern beauty retouching” (Breukelman).  For Snapchat to create this retouching filter, it is a step backwards in this environment that we are trying to create where people are comfortable and confident in their own skin.  The Atlas article also says, “In a time where we’re working towards positive self-image, why are we promoting these glossed over, altered, magazine-ideal images of ourselves” (Breukelman).  There are many campaigns today that focus on promoting a positive self-image.  An example of this is “Aerie Real” in which the company uses images of models that have not been photoshopped in their marketing.  They promote that the real you is beautiful.  Snapchat is promoting the opposite of this with the retouching filter because they are creating another way for people to change their appearances with a filter.  As a society we need to get away from apps and programs that change our appearances like that.

            Often times you can notice when someone has altered a photo using an app or program.  Whenever I see a photograph like that I think that it is sad because they do not feel confortable with letting people see the raw and unedited picture of themselves.  The Snapchat retouching filter contributes to the trend of making people think that they need to look like that.  An article by Aimee Simeon from Popsugar titled, “Why Snapchat Filters Are More Problematic Than Pretty” says, “At the press of a button, my rounded cheeks and nose are suddenly contoured and chiseled.  Every pimple and imperfection vanishes – and I am no longer me.  Instead, I’m transformed into a thinner, more ‘socially desirable’ me” (Simeon).  The preview of the filter shows a cartoon face with big sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks.  It is promoting that this is what truly pretty is.  The Snapchat retouching filter can make people feel bad about themselves and the way they look because they do not look like the definition of pretty that society has created.  This can cause many emotional and mental problems for people and can make their confidence level drop or remain low.  It can reinstate ideas in their heads that they are not pretty because they do not naturally look like they do with the retouching filter.  It makes people not feel comfortable with their natural photos and true self and that is a problem that leads to many other problems.

            Not only does the retouching Snapchat filter serve as a step backwards in the movement to promote self-image and make people think that they need to look like that, it also allows people to hide their insecurities.  It is normal to have insecurities.  Everyone has things that they do not like about themselves.  We would change those features or things about ourselves if we could and some people even do with dangerous and expensive surgical procedures.  The article from Popsugar addresses this issue saying, “Because we are constantly fed dosages of unrealistic perfection, our insecurities consume us.  Instead of celebrating the traits that make us unique, we are constantly given new ways to hide them… and now one of those ways is through filters” (Simeon).  This connects back to the other two issues I discussed because we should not be creating other ways that people can hide from the things that they do not like about themselves.  This leads to mental and emotional problems and instead we should be promoting confidence in your true self.

            The bottom line is that the Snapchat retouching filter is bad.  It strays away from promoting a positive self-image, makes people think that they need to look like the flawless person it creates, and gives people a way to hide from their insecurities ultimately making them more insecure.  People should not need the retouching filter to feel confident about themselves.  It makes people feel bad about themselves because they do not look like that.  It is sickening that apps that change your appearance to reach an unrealistic image exist and people use them to make themselves look “better” or “prettier” in pictures that they post on social media.  Snapchat needs to get rid of their retouching filter.  A way to end the adjusting of photos in this way is to get rid of the smartphone apps that easily allow people to do that.  We need all big companies to be on board in order for it to work, however.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the majority of the Snapchat filters because they are fun and amusing but the retouching filter took it way to far and should not exist.

Works Cited:

Breukelman, Megan. "The Problem with Snapchat's New Filter." Atlas Magazine. N.p., n.d.

            Web. 7 May 2016.

Simeon, Aimee. "The Problem With Snapchat Filters." POPSUGAR. N.p., 4 May 2016. Web. 7

            May 2016.