Ask around, and many people will admit to having used a selfie filter or a few on social media platforms. I mean, it’s not out of the ordinary — these filters are now very much tied into the whole experience of using these apps.
These filters, or “lenses” were first launched by Snapchat a few years ago, and I’m sure no one thought of any potential psychological harm they could perpetuate.
Instagram is taking it upon themselves to ban selfie filters that don’t promote positive well-being.
That includes their more recent plastic surgery effect filters, like the one shown here.
While this filter seems wacky and wild, its long term use has the potential to cause what is called “Snapchat dysmorphia” —people start wanting to look like the filters they use, causing a discrepancy between who they see in the mirror in real life and the person they see through the lens of these, well, AR lenses.
Working with the company Spark AR, Instagram allowed users to create their own filters, with some gaining more notoriety on the app than others.
People seem to be attracted to the filters that drastically change their faces, finding it silly how exaggerated the filters make their facial structure become.
People have even gone to great lengths to become the filters they use.
In fact, an episode of MTV’s True Life/Now was dedicated to highlighting this topic.
With ‘Snapchat dysmorphia’ an unfortunate looming reality, Instagram doesn’t feel that these filters promote positive well-being.
“We’re re-evaluating our policies – we want our filters to be a positive experience for people,” a spokesperson told BBC .
“While we’re re-evaluating our policies, we will remove all effects from the [effects] gallery associated with plastic surgery, stop further approval of new effects like this and remove current effects if they’re reported to us.”
Don’t worry. This means that you can still use their other fun filters, like the vintage film ones and the animal ears.
What do you think? Is Instagram doing the right thing? Let us know!