A couple of decades ago, people would say not to believe everything you see on television, but now that expression is adapted to the changing times and you have to tell people not to believe everything they see on the internet.
But the internet is a whole different beast because anyone can post on the internet however much they want, so you will definitely come across something that is fake and made up. It is even evident in the mainstream media with celebrities and influencers constantly showing pictures of themselves that are highly edited and don’t represent reality.
More info: TikTok
TikToker @residualdata is spreading awareness about video editing technology that lets users change their body shape without many people noticing it
Image credits: residualdata
TikToker @residualdata, also known as Sophie, is the person who notices all the edits and recently she started exposing celebrities and influencers on her page. The videos are attracting quite a lot of people interested to see what the deal is.
One of the most recent videos that went viral was of her explaining that video editing is as possible as photo editing. More than 2 million people were curious to see what Sophie had to say and 452k people liked it.
Image credits: residualdata
She shows a video that is popular on Chinese TikTok of a woman crossing the street and claims that she doesn't look like that in real life
Image credits: residualdata
Bored Panda reached out to Corinne Dobbas, MS, RD registered dietitian, nutrition therapist, and host of The Body Image Podcast to ask why people often edit their bodies and faces even though it is clear that they don't look like that in real life. Corinne answered, "I find that people don't always realize that others can tell that something has been done to the photo."
Another expert, Jacqueline V. Hogue, who has written a paper on The effects of active social media engagement with peers on body image in young women together with Jennifer S. Mills, says "girls’ and women’s appearance is too often over-valued in society, so motivations may be related to boys’ and men’s objectification of girls and women or self-objectification. Motivations may also relate to empowerment, body confidence, and/or the accessibility of editing tools."
Image credits: residualdata
Sophie shows a video that she says got very popular on Chinese TikTok, which is there known as Douyin. The video in question is said to have 7 million views and a million likes. But the problem with it is that not everyone has caught on to the fact that it was edited.
The TikToker brings our attention to a detail that lets us know that the woman’s body was enhanced. As usual, you have to search for straight lines in the background and if they are warped, that’s a clear giveaway that the image was manipulated. So in this video, you can see a green pole and Sophie stops the video in the moment when the woman has passed by it. It is subtle, but it is quite obvious that the pole is not completely straight.
The TikToker draws our attention to a pole that looks warped and that means that the woman's body is being enhanced
Image credits: residualdata
Sophie continues to say that these types of edits are common in Chinese street style videos, but she wanted to talk about it because the technology is getting so sophisticated that people can’t even tell when there is something done to a video.
And that is truly damaging as it gives an unrealistic image of what a human body or face should look like. That leads people to feel less attractive and dissatisfied with their own appearance, when they shouldn’t feel bad as what they consider to be beautiful or an ideal is not real.
According to the body image expert Corinne Dobbas, it is not uncommon for people to "feel insecure and to want to change their body or how they look, often through unhealthy or unnatural ways" after constantly seeing others with perfect bodies and faces.
Image credits: residualdata
It is more serious than you would initially think, especially to younger audiences as they are very impressionable, so seeing women with such unrealistic proportions may cause them to go on extreme diets, leading to eating disorders and other mental health problems.
Psychology specialist Jacqueline V. Hogue explains, "even when we are told images have been edited, overall these disclaimers are ineffective at reducing the negative effects of viewing thin-ideal images on women’s body image. In fact, these disclaimers can be harmful to the body image of some women (for example, those who have a high tendency to compare their appearance). Interestingly, recently research (by Tiggemann & Velissaris in 2020) also shows that when social media users make or view “reality check” comments on influencers’ posts, users’ body dissatisfaction decreases."
It seems that now, with the technology being so accessible, it is even more common to portray yourself on social media however you want. But there are people who are joining the body positivity movement to show real bodies and that they are beautiful too.
You can watch Sophie's explanation in this video
But The Body Image Podcast host Corinne Dobbas still thinks that there is a long way to go, though; she says, "I feel like it's allowed for there to be more conversations around topics like this and for people to begin diversifying what they find beautiful."
What Jacqueline V. Hogue has to say about the movment is "it still focuses on body image—what we believe, think, and feel about our bodies. It is considered normative for girls and women to be discontent with their bodies, and we exist in a society that says girls’ and women’s worth is due to their bodies, whether for men’s objectification, self-objectification, or female empowerment. Body neutrality, on the other hand, takes away the immense power and control body image (whether negative or positive) has over girls and women. A body-neutral thought would be something like, “My body helps me get from here to there.” Individuals are so much more than their bodies. If collectively society could get to a place where our bodies were considered the least interesting thing about us, think of all the time, energy, and joy we could get to focus on other pleasant and meaningful aspects of life!"
What do you think of people changing their looks in photos or videos? Did you also know that video editing is getting more common? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
People in the comments realized that something in the video was not right and agreed that these kinds of video manipulations are unnecessary
