Does TikTok’s Bold Glamour filter harm users’ mental health?

TikTok’s new hyper-realistic bold glamor filter is raising concerns among some mental health experts over the potential impact of “cute” digital image effects on social media users’ well-being.

The AI-powered filter, which TikTok added earlier this year, uses artificial intelligence to enhance users’ facial features, smooth their skin and brighten their eyes. The effect is virtually seamless, making changes difficult to detect. Since its rollout, the bold glamor filter hashtag has garnered more than 200 million views on TikTok, the app shows.

While TikTok users seem eager to digitally enhance their appearance, Keith Feigenson, an associate professor of psychology at Albright College in Pennsylvania, worries that using filters like Bold Glamor can make people on social media especially vulnerable. May cause emotional or psychological harm to young female users.

“While social media is only one part of the picture, it is likely that the use of these types of filters will increase the risk of low self-esteem across demographics, and the risk will be particularly high for adolescent girls. ” said Feganson.

According to City University of London the study90% of young adult women ages 18-30 said they filter their social media photos because of the pressure they feel to conform to perceived beauty standards.

Women aren’t the only ones using technology to improve their looks. According to 2021 Consumer Reports, nearly 21 percent of Americans of either gender report using beauty filters on their photos before posting them on a social media profile. the study. Of those who say they use filters, 9% admit to using them “always or almost always” while 13% said they use the tech “often.”

Filters aren’t just increasingly popular on TikTok — they’ve also gained traction on platforms like Facebook and Snapchat, where they’re used by millions of users. Facebook and Instagram alone report that more than 600 million people have experimented with the platforms’ augmented reality effects. Review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reported

Meanwhile, 63 percent of people on Snapchat have used the app’s augmented reality filters. Social Pilota social media management and marketing tool.

Given the growing popularity of filters, social media companies have a responsibility to be “fully transparent” about the “potential consequences” of using filters, Feigenson told CBS MoneyWatch.

“Companies can position themselves in the mental health safety camp by providing safe spaces for online communication, resources for individuals to access mental health support, and easy-to-understand descriptions of potential risks,” Feigenson said. should be held firmly.”

About one-third of American schoolgirls in the United States suffer from depression. It is considered a suicide attempt.According to a 2021 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 20 percent of teenage girls compared to a decade ago. More than half of teenage girls, 57%, reported feeling “constantly sad or hopeless” – a record high – the agency found.