Today, youth are faced with an elevated level of scrutiny through social media platforms such as Facebook. Somewhat like a public journal, what they post becomes associated with who they are: their profile picture is what they look like, their status updates show you the exciting places they go, and their shares give you insight into their interests, humour or intellect. From one perspective, online platforms can be viewed as an outlet for youth to freely be themselves without dealing with judgement and rejection of others face to face. It can be liberating to be behind a computer or handheld and feel like you can be whoever you want. However, with online bullying this becomes increasingly difficult. The truth is that sometimes the comments section of a photo or video has more hurtful messages than anyone would ever be brave enough to distribute face to face. Given all these challenges, it can become a very overwhelming to post ideas to post photos, when you know everything is being viewed under a microscope and it is always easily and readily accessible.
This is why it seems to have become an necessity for youth to alter their perception based on expectations in order to be liked or accepted. Hashtags like #OOTD (outfit of the day) have become a norm on Instagram through which individuals can post photos of their outfits indicating their sense of fashion. Probably one of the most popular hashtags in the past few years was #YOLO (you only live once) that would show everyone how exciting and adventurous you could be, boasting of your accomplishments, achievements, or lifestyle.
It all seems harmless and fun but the concerning part to me is how consuming it can be to get the perfect picture with the perfect filter. It is best put as self curation, however it can even be self alteration. Recently, I learnt of an app called Spring that advertises itself as the "worldwide best body altering app with 4 million users over 217 countries!". Concerning in its tagline alone, the application allows you to stretch your body to look taller or slim your body. The results are essentially a professional photoshop in the palm of your hands. Another app called Makeup 365 detects your face and can airbrush your image and put makeup on you. It has become so widely accepted that some devices have integrated these tools into their software. The Samsung Galaxy phones have a filter called Beauty Face which eliminates blemishes and imperfections and allows you to take the perfect selfie.
With tools like these available, it becomes so easy to youth to find a quick to fix their body issues rather than really dealing with them and becoming comfortable with the person they are. It is so prevalent. The next time you are at a concert, or taking in a beauitful sight, look around to you and see how many people are experiencing that moment through the lens of their phone, trying to capture the perfect photo to show everyone on Facebook what they are seeing. In the same way, I worry for youth, that they spend so much time trying to get to become the person that they can post on Facebook, so focused on others opinions and spend less time investigating the person they really are.