03.09.23
While social media filters can be a source of creativity and self-expression, TikTok’s new “Bold Glamour” filter can potentially distort reality and reinforce narrow and unattainable beauty standards.
According to research by Dove, 38% of girls say they can't live up to the beauty standards that influencers project on social media, and 80% say they have already applied a filter or used a retouching app to change the way they look in their photos by age 13.
As a result, 48% of girls who distort their photos regularly have lower body esteem compared to 28% of girls who don't.
"Academic studies find that the use of filters and selfie editing are associated with low body confidence, mood and self-esteem," said Dr. Phillippa Diedrichs, research psychologist at the Center of Appearance Research at the University of West England and body image expert. "Research from Dove found that 24% of girls with lower body esteem feel they don't look good enough without photo editing. Moreover, filters have become part of everyday life for 52% of girls, and 77% try to change or hide at least one part of their body before posting a photo of themselves. This suggests that the cumulative effect of filters and digital distortion over time is creating appearance pressures and low self-worth among girls and young women."
'Keep Beauty Real'
To champion self-esteem among young girls, Dove is calling on its global community to post a video to #TurnYourBack to the #BoldGlamour filter, and inviting everyone to join them to take a stand as part of its ongoing commitment to #NoDigitalDistortion in any of its advertising or marketing.
"The Bold Glamour filter has now been used over 15 million times, and its popularity certainly doesn't seem to be waning. What might seem like a harmless filter has the potential to cause damage to our mental health and affect our self-esteem," explains content creator and body confidence advocate, Alex Light. "Filters like this create a brand new and unrealistic comparison that blurs the lines of reality and sets a new standard for how we think we should look. It's vital that we push back against these increasingly toxic beauty standards and show young girls that it's OK to be their authentic, beautiful selves.”
Dove says it aims to transform the “often toxic, digitally distorted feeds” on social media into a movement to “keep beauty real.” The company is asking consumers to post a video turning their back to the Bold Glamour filter using #TurnYourBack #BoldGlamour #NoDigitalDistortion.
Through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, Dove also offers academically validated and free tools to empower parents and caregivers to help kids navigate social media in a positive way. Created in partnership with the Centre for Appearance Research, the Confidence Kit provides tips on how to make social media a healthy place where kids can flourish and is available for download at Dove.com/selfesteem.
The Confidence Kit is part of the Dove Self-Esteem Project's mission to help 250 million kids with self-esteem education by 2030. To date, the Dove Self-Esteem Project has reached the lives of 94.5 million young people across 150 countries.