Social Media Envy Series with Berry Dakara: Edits, Filters & Specially Curated Instagram Feeds

In my first post in this series, I introduced the topic of Social Media Envy. {Click here if you missed it} The next article dealt with How to Avoid Social Media Envy. In today’s final post, I will highlight how people curate and edit their Social Media posts. Essentially, what you see on Instagram or Snapchat is NOT always real life.

Photoshop! VSCO Cam! Youcam Makeup! FaceTune! Snapchat! Even your phone camera! These are just a few tools that are used to alter photos and videos to make them more visually appealing. In a single word, FILTERS! If you search “Perfect Instagram Pictures” on Google, there are over 59 million results. These are articles, tutorials, videos and more that give you tips on editing your photos so they are ready for Instagram. From selfies to flat-lays, travel to food, beauty to events, career and shopping, the quest to project a life of seeming perfection, and perpetual fun is quite apparent and increasing as more and more people flock to social media.

It may be partly due to the Keeping-Up-With-The-Whoevers syndrome, where people try to show that they are just as beautiful/handsome, rich, well-traveled, successful or knowledgeable as the next person. Or it’s done in a bid to attract more followers which can be understandable in certain industries. Whatever it is, it’s important to note that a lot of social media posts are usually heavily edited!

Take for example, the very popular Patricia Bright. She boasts almost 1 million subscribers on her Youtube channel and has a near perfect Instagram feed. However, she is upfront and honest about how she edits her photos before posting to Instagram.

See video below:

Before I saw that VLog, I had no idea that people could actually whiten their eyes for a photo. I already knew about slimming your face, but elongating your neck?! I decided to play around with an app I found out about last week, called Youcam Makeup. See my original photo and the edited version below.

It is not just looks that are being edited. People actively select photos and videos to portray certain lifestyles. Who remembers the young lady that was called out by a celebrity for posing outside his father’s house for her Instagram photo? Also check out these articles: What I Instagrammed vs. What was really happening and The Truth Behind Instagram Photos and you’ll get a better sense of how photos can be staged to look like the subject in question lives the perfect, well-balanced life.

In this day and age of Photoshop, what you see is not necessarily what you get. Therefore, there is no point in envying the lives of others, when half the time, what they put online is either edited or the best parts of their lives. People are quick to shout out #RelationshipGoals and then are surprised to hear that the couple in question are dealing with infidelity or even abuse. Well, it’s not like we expect anyone to publicize their relationship woes, unless that person is Lindsay Lohan.

This is not to say that there is no authenticity on Social Media – there is. However, keep in mind that you are viewing only snippets of someone else’s life. The takeaway here is to be cautious with your use of Social Media, and you can start by adopting some of the measures I mentioned in the previous post.