Filtered selfies get… fewer likes (!) On Instagram

Filtered selfies have been a big trend for some time. Taking a photo and beautifying it using Instagram's augmented reality is pretty fun, and it lets you know what you would look like with puppy ears, exotic makeup, masks of your favorite superheroes, glasses and even know what you would look like as a baby or in a person of the opposite sex .

Filtered selfies have become the new normal for sharing content on Instagram, but how are other users reacting to these creations? According to a recent study , not very good, at least not as good as with "normal" images.

Filtered selfies make users look fake or vain

The study conducted by representatives from Rowan University, Wayne State University, University of Missouri and University of Illinois in the United States, found that using selfies with filters results in less of likes on Instagram, on average, than Selfies shared without filters.

To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed nearly 2000 images and compared the engagement of each publication based on a range of variables , which included the number of likes each user got on their posts, as well as the total number of their subscribers. , among others.

According to the report, "Although users who take selfies with filters do so because they see themselves as increasing their visual appeal, other users may perceive it as deceptive behavior , because they only present the ideal they have of themselves. "

This conclusion makes sense if we see it from the point of view that when uploading a selfie without filters or edits, subscribers, who include friends and family, can see it as a call for user validation, what family and friends will be happy to provide.

In contrast, selfies with filters tend to be less appealing because they have a more fun and less demanding background in the sense of self-validation, so in practice, they will have fewer likes than a selfie without filters.

Instagram has already blocked edited digital photos

But, in addition to selfies with AR filters, it would be very interesting to know to what extent this response extends into the lack of likes to the edited images.

Anyone who regularly uses Instagram and virtually any social network knows that highly edited images abound , sometimes to the point that it is extremely difficult to recognize people.

If, according to the study, users respond less positively to filtered selfies, maybe they too less likely to like these kind of updates with hyper-edited photos , which would result in fewer users transforming to boost their self-esteem. by means of this type of images.

And maybe that would be an important point in favor, because these types of images had a negative impact , both for those who download them, and for other users who, when viewing them, tend to compare themselves to these unrealistic representations.

It should be remembered that Instagram fights to improve the mental health and well-being of its users, even going as far as hide the number of likes, in order to avoid the desperation of young users over other profiles.

In fact, Instagram has started to hide a lot of images heavily edited with Photoshop, mostly related to digital photographs which can be considered fake, in order to avoid user deception.

So maybe one day we will be able to see an Instagram without edited photos, because in the future it will be able to integrate a filter or restriction similar to selfies with filters or highly edited, with which perhaps it will improve the well-being of its users.