What effects do social media filters have on the mental health of young people?

According to the report 'Born in the digital age: The AI ​​generation', prepared by Qustodio, a platform specialized in online security and digital well-being, Spanish teenagers spend an average of 420 minutes a week absorbed in this type of applications. When they are not exchanging private messages, they comment on their friends' publications: photographs and videos that they often retouch to conform to the image of perfection sold by the 'influencer' on duty.

The latter currently represents one of the risks inherent to platforms such as Instagram or TikTok. Reality is distorted in such a way that the minor feels discomfort when seeing himself reflected in the mirror as he is, without filters. And to such an extent that he may want to obtain it at all costs. In fact, a fact revealed by the Spanish Society of Aesthetic Medicine (SEME) is no coincidence: the age of first touch-ups in Spain has dropped from 35 to 20 years.

Psychologist Gloria R. Ben, specialized in digital environments, highlights that filters, or rather their abuse, pose a danger to the mental health of young people. She identifies four situations that we explain below.

“Excessive use of filters and the search for personal acceptance through them can significantly affect our mood,” explains Ben. «Constantly comparing ourselves with that unrealistic image and trying to achieve it can generate an obsession. And not reaching the goal can cause us a lot of stress,” continues the expert. Likewise, she remembers that “anxiety and depression are disorders that can develop when we set unrealistic goals.” And being perfect is the first of them. Hence, we must convey the message that what is seen on networks is not reality, but a projection.

The use of filters not only generates the search for impossible beauty, it also influences the behavior of adolescents on another level. As the psychologist points out, they are also often used due to the need for other people's approval.

«We live in a society in which the number of 'likes' is directly related to personal well-being, so the attempt to get closer to those supposed standards imposed by perfection can generate a dependence on the opinion of others. All this entails the need to use those filters », he continues. We all want reward: “Observing how the modified images of others produce praise leads us to think that we will receive more attention when our image matches that 'perfection'.” However, all this “increases the insecurity” of teenagers, who end up “fearing being judged for showing reality,” says Ben.

«With the culture of filters, we can enter a dynamic in which reality and fantasy blur. This causes us to look for things that are sometimes unattainable and unrealistic,” Ben points out. And the filters eliminate all imperfections both on the face and body. The problem is that we are continually exposed “to highly retouched images and this can make us fall into the temptation of comparing ourselves and creating a distorted perception of reality and beauty,” warns the expert.

“These artificial touches mean that, more and more, what is beautiful is understood as perfect, which is practically unattainable, since we all, to a greater or lesser extent, have imperfections in our bodies.” Thus, this continuous comparison means that “we never agree with the reality that the mirror returns to us.” “We must accept each other with all our differences,” he advises.

This last point is closely related to the previous one. Since we cannot achieve that prototype of beauty, which is otherwise unreal, our confidence is weakened. And what is worse “not only on a physical level but in all areas of our lives.”

And social media filters can soften the skin, remove blemishes, widen or reduce parts of the body… practically everything. Although be careful, this not only generates dissatisfaction among young people, but also among adult users who end up believing that they are not up to the task.'.