A defining part of my childhood, up there with early bike rides and skinned knees, were Snapchat filters. Back then, they seemed lighthearted enough – with big bug eyes and a colorful rainbow that would spill out of your mouth at the tap of a screen, there was little to dislike.

Since then, those comical filters have been joined by others that are not so innocent. Rainbow mouths turned into contoured noses mimicking rhinoplasties. Big eyes were cast aside in favor of fake eyelashes and “Kylie Jenner”-style pouty lips.

These days, a lot of people have two faces: the (two-dimensional) one they show online, and the one they exist in the real world with. Snapchat reports that more than 200 million people use its filters on a daily basis.

It’s no surprise that these face-altering technologies are having a negative impact on young people.

Being a teenager is hard enough. But mine will be the first generation to feel we’re constantly being photographed or recorded. Teens and tweens are consuming social media content more than ever before, and the relentless editing of our faces and bodies on social media platforms contributes to a vicious cycle of body dysmorphia. According to a study by Dove, by age 13, 80% of girls have used face-altering technology to “distort the way they look online.” What does this mean for the youth of today?

In my experience, the more time I spent on social media, the more agitated I grew with my own appearance. Many of these filters made my anxieties about myself all too real. What was wrong with my ethnic features? Why were they so readily replaced with thinner eyebrows, paler skin and a skinnier nose? I began to internalize these differences in my facial appearance as things that made me lesser than.

These filters almost felt like a template for how I should look. For a while, not fitting that rigid mold terrified me.

More recently, TikTok’s “bold glamour” filter represents a turning point in how we choose to present ourselves online. The filter, with more than 105 million views on the app, allows a user to drastically beautify their face by offering sharper eyebrows, chiseled cheekbones and perfect makeup.

What’s so eerie about this filter is how hyper realistic it is. “Bold glamour” uses artificial intelligence technology which allows a user to seamlessly alter their appearance devoid of any of the glitches that marked filters of the past. Filters such as this one are woven into daily life, and it can often feel as though platforms encourage the use of them. They have the potential to warp the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Some have gone as far to compare the effects of “bold glamour” to “psychological warfare.”

Dramatic? Maybe. But given the way I’ve seen teens online embrace the filter, I’d have to agree.

The statistics seem to back a grim outlook. A 2021 study by the American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery showed that face-altering tech was associated with people’s “desires to undergo facial cosmetic procedures.” Plastic surgeons nationwide have said that patients come to them with filtered selfies of themselves to serve as a reference for the surgeries they wish to receive.

These social media filters also terrifyingly work to change skin color. Recent studies have shown that certain app algorithms are designed to show users faces that are younger, thinner and lighter in skin tone. What’s known as “digital colorism” is particularly harmful to people with darker skin tones.

In 2020, Instagram banned dramatic beauty filters in response to mounting concerns over their impact on mental health. Over time, this policy has changed to only prohibit filters that encourage plastic surgery. This rule seems to me to be incredibly gray and lacking in clarity.

More needs to be done by social media companies to equip young adults with tools they need to wean them off addictive and harmful features of their products. More needs to be done to emphasize that a picture is not in its natural state. Parents need to be educated and informed about where they can seek professional counseling and support.

But should the burden of tackling these insidious filters’ ill effects really be on the user, or even their parents? More blame needs to be placed on the social media platforms themselves.

Policymakers need to warn social media giants that they’re not above regulations, fines and other forms of censure if they are reckless with the mental health and emotional well-being of the next generations.

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