Social Media pics look almost nothing like real life (head, beauty, professional)

[cis_love]

I have a friend very much into beauty (make up artist). I met her online first and every pic is just gorgeous. Recently I met her in real life and she's very pretty but now I realize pics were clearly photoshopped to make her look better/younger. I notice a lot of people do this. I admit i'm tempted as well but I'd feel a little odd to not look like my picture. Is this now normal -- to put filters and photoshop so much to subtract 10 years and look perfect?

[matisse12]

I know someone who posts almost nothing except head and torso shots of herself at her Instagram account, and all or the vast majority appear to have used filters. I think it's weird to post nothing except mostly head & torso shots of oneself repeatedly - and then to use filters compounds the weirdness - seems narcissistically bizarre.

She does it to garner comments about how good looking she is repeatedly. I didn't really know that lots of other people are doing this - using filters - for their social media pics - but now I know from reading your post, OP.

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by cis_love

I have a friend very much into beauty (make up artist). I met her online first and every pic is just gorgeous. Recently I met her in real life and she's very pretty but now I realize pics were clearly photoshopped to make her look better/younger. I notice a lot of people do this. I admit i'm tempted as well but I'd feel a little odd to not look like my picture. Is this now normal -- to put filters and photoshop so much to subtract 10 years and look perfect?

My dad was an award-winning professional portrait photographer, and these people aren't really doing anything different than the retouching that was so common back in his day; they're just using their computers to do it themselves now.

Dressing up a profile pic a little, I have no problem with. I do wonder about people who post so many doctored photos of themselves, though. As already pointed out, it seems pretty narcissistic.

[BirdieBelle]

It's common but it's not a good idea to have ONLY filtered pix.

My other least favorite move is when someone will only have photos of themselves taken at precisely the same angle. It's weird to see photo after photo of them in different outfits but posing in the exact same way.

[jade408]

I can think of quite a few people who look so different in real life. I am sometimes a little jealous that my oics never look so good. But I don’t retouch so basically my pics look like me. :P

Recently someone took a photo of my and did the perfect black and white filter. It was so good - I need to learn her tricks - for special ocassions.

[gypsychic]

I see many, many people doing this. I know what they look like in real life (and this isn't it) but they love to post highly doctored photos of themselves on Social Media and garner all sorts of compliments. I never do this, and my photos look worse than I actually do most of the time. I prefer it this way..... you know, lowered expectations.....

[Navyshow]

If it is obvious on others, then it can inspire us to not do it ourselves! I see so many fb photos that are shopped and the likes and compliments come pouring in. Friends know and provide the compliments because they know that was what was being fished for, so it is better to just be ourselves.

[crd08]

Many people use filters. Some people use the Facetune app to photoshop. I just assume everything is edited to some extent.

[joee5]

Many of my wife's friends I see photos of online are clearly heavily filtered. Appears that every woman does this from what I've seen.

[blueherons]

I don't even know how to doctor my own photos. On my social media, its all me!