It’s no surprise that social media is full of photoshopped and heavily edited photos. However, we tend to forget that when we’re scrolling through Instagram or any other platform and we’re bombarded with pictures of beautiful-looking people with perfect bodies doing amazing things.
But the truth is, a lot of these ‘perfect’ photos are all an illusion: they’re heavily altered to make us think that the models and influencers are living the dream while their real lives might be completely different. A set of photos taken by 2 supposedly Chinese social media stars and posted online showed their fans just how powerful Photoshop is. And just how much it can hoodwink us without us being aware of what’s going on.
The influencers showed how photo editing software can make them look radically different. Both the social media stars made themselves look skinnier and altered their faces.
2 influencers showed their fans what they look like when they don't edit their photos
Image credits: Ex Treme
Image credits: Ex Treme
Here's what the 2 influencers look after they edited their photos...
Image credits: coeyyyy
...and here's what they look like in real life
Image credits: Ex Treme
The difference is striking
Image credits: coeyyyy
Image credits: Ex Treme
Here's a couple more comparison pics to show you the power of photo editing software
Image credits: coeyyyy
This is how Coeyyyy's followers are used to seeing her
Image credits: coeyyyy
Image credits: coeyyyy
Image credits: coeyyyy
The photos went viral not just in China but all over the world after Facebook user Jevin Cheng, aka Ex Treme, posted them on his page. His post got more than 5.6k likes and more than 18k shares. But the most important thing is that his post got people talking: there are over 11k comments beneath his repost of the pics.
According to World of Buzz, the caption on the models’ social media post reads: “After being secretly photographed, I haven’t been in the best of moods. That’s why these photos never made it online after I weighed my options.”
The pics shocked a lot of people. Some said that this is the reason you shouldn’t trust any photo that looks too good to be true online. While others pointed out that this is a whole other level of catfishing (for those of you who don’t what it is, it’s when somebody lures you into a relationship using a fake online persona).
Still, there were some people who doubted that the social media stars’ post was real. They think that photos can’t be photoshopped that cleanly and believe that the pics simply feature similar-looking but different women wearing the same clothes.
What do you think about the photos and about the photoshopping culture in the age of social media, Dear Pandas? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Here's how people reacted when they saw the unedited photos
