Filtro de TikTok maquilla el rostro sin detección

TikTok’s face-filter that airbrushes women’s faces and raises concerns about body image

Thanks to apps like Instagram and TikTok, which allow filters to be applied to videos uploaded to both platforms, the popularity of the technology used to create new styles and aesthetic modifications to the content of each platform has improved. However, while some filters are praised for their realism and entertainment value, others are criticised for increasing people’s physical insecurities by drastically changing facial features, particularly those of women who create online content.

The «Bold Glamour» filter has gone viral on TikTok, as well as simulating make-up and applying it to users’ faces using artificial intelligence. The results are so realistic that the filter becomes indistinguishable from reality, but it creates an image that deviates significantly from people’s real facial features. The physical differences between the real face and the filtered one are so pronounced that a trend has emerged in which various women show their faces with and without the filter so that the difference is noticeable. Women who have tried it comment that «this filter should be illegal,» «this is not healthy, my insecurities are increasing, and my confidence is plummeting,» and «this filter is doing a lot of harm to society,» among other things.

The filter not only removes skin blemishes, erases wrinkles, and defines users’ eyebrows but also accentuates their cheekbones, lightens their skin tone, and reduces the slant of their eyes to make them more symmetrical as well as add complete make-up to their faces even if they did not apply any beforehand. What sets this filter apart is that the artificial intelligence used to apply it allows TikTok users to cover part of their faces without affecting the filter’s quality or being noticeable. Rubbing your face with your hands or moving it in any way does not affect the filter’s usefulness, which remains intact without application errors.

A study conducted by the Open University of Catalonia found that people can develop mental disorders from being constantly exposed to retouched images with filters. Specialists indicate that this can generate cases of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which in turn create other mental health problems. This disorder presents itself as a distorted view of the image a person has of themselves and exaggerates a person’s negative or unwanted characteristics. It is also added that social media platforms like TikTok have exacerbated this problem to the point that the Boston Medical Center in the United States refers to a new phenomenon called «selfie dysmorphia,» which leads to cosmetic surgery.

In conclusion, while filters remain a fun and useful tool for social media users, there are valid concerns about their impact on people’s mental health, particularly women. It is crucial to recognise that the images seen online are not always reality and that the pressure to conform to an idealised or impossible standard of beauty can have harmful consequences for people’s mental health.