We all want to look our best, right?
Stand up straight when the cameras come out, minimize our double chin, stand at an angle…
And why shouldn't we? This is just putting our “best foot forward” - effort, dignity, and stewardship.
But what about when it goes too far?
A recent article called “Selfies, Surgeries, and Self-Loathing: Inside the Facetune Epidemic” puts this question well.
Facetune is a free app that lets you edit your photos in real-time on your 📱before you post them to social media. It’s free and simple, and many people now routinely “tune up” images of themselves before posting them online. It's widely used, especially among young people.
What starts as harmless can become addictive…. and ultimately, damaging. Waist-whittle here, teeth-brighten there, a side of double chin reduction - and you still look almost like yourself. Just, better. A 2.0 version.
Right?
A couple quotes:
- “My Facetuning has gotten so meticulous that by the time I’m done [editing a picture], I don’t even want to post it, because it doesn’t look like me.”
- “I’ve always been insecure, but in this Facetune era, I feel so much more shame about my appearance.”
You Facetune to feel better about your appearance, but ultimately you feel infinitely worse about it. The article cites recent research that showed "that using Facetune actually instills and increases people’s desire to go under the knife. And as surgeons are finding, it can set them up for crushing disappointment.”
The article is worth a read in its entirety.
Bottom line:
The practices we undertake on our 📱s affect our whole being. The more routinely we perform a task (whatever it is), the more it contributes to our character formation.
With practices like photo-"touch-ups" and apps like Facetune, we're wise to tread with caution.
Here's to healthy souls and freedom!
Susan
PS. Phone use can cause plenty of trouble (as seen here), especially in overuse. But they aren't innately bad! In fact, I created a free quiz about phones and virtue. Check it out below - you might enjoy it!
