TikTok filters are one of the platform’s key features, so it’s no surprise that some have gone viral over the years after being used by creators with a huge following.
But this time, A viral beauty filter is gaining immense attention for how alarmingly realistic it looksBold Glamour is unlike any other beauty filter that has ever been released on TikTok.
Until March 8, the filter had More than 2.8 million videos on TikTokand videos tagged #boldglamour had garnered more than 390 million views.
Previously, users were often able to identify if a TikTok beauty filter was being used on a video. With Bold Glamour, however, many are finding it nearly impossible to discern whether the filter was on.
One video, in which TikToker @notsophiesilva rubbed her face to show how the filter wouldn’t budge, had a caption that read: “This filter has to be illegal”. TikTok has more than 37.1 million views and 2 million followers. likes.
TikTok did not disclose the technology used to develop the filter. The Verge has noted that the company had ignored emails asking for confirmation about whether AI is being used.
Some experts claim that Bold Glamour uses machine learning, a branch of AI technology, according to the technology corporation IBM.
Unlike the traditional beauty filter that overlays a face mesh on a 2D screen using a face-tracking mechanism, this new filter processes the camera’s own image by comparing it to a dataset of other images and then regenerates the pixels, explains Luke Hurd, a mixed reality consultant with experience creating TikTok filters as the creator of Effect House.
The technology allows the filter to remain unaffected by any camera obstructions — which would have ruined the 3D overlay on a traditional filter — resulting in the hyper-realistic look, Hurd says in a series of videos posted on TikTok.
Bold Glamour had mixed reactions on the app
Some tiktokers are simply impressed by how realistic and flawless the filter is, while Others express how it is affecting their self-esteem by making them feel ugly when the filter is off.
“I don’t think my brain knows how to deal with seeing me like this for a minute.”content creator @joannajkenny noted, “and then this to the next one,” she added as she turned off the filter to reveal her real face. The video has 7.6 million views and over 400,000 likes.
Many are also saying that This filter is dangerousas it reinforces unrealistic beauty standards through a medium that can be very misleading. “This filter should come with a warning,” read a caption on the same video by @joannajkenny.
Business Insider has contacted some experts who warn that the filter has the potential to negatively impact a person’s self-esteem, since distorts the way people perceive themselvesand creates an insatiable gap between what is shown on the screen and exists in reality.
“The Bold Glamour filter can definitely damage a person’s self-perception,” explains licensed clinical psychologist Jaci Lopez Witmer. “In extreme cases, the filter can lead to body dysmorphic disorder,” she adds. Body dysmorphic disorder is characterized by “persistent and intrusive concerns about an imagined or minor flaw in one’s appearance,” according to Psychology Today.
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Witmer also tells Business Insider that users may experience cognitive dissonance because the filter is “inconsistent with their own self-image.” Cognitive dissonance is described as the feeling of discomfort when two or more states of thought contradict each other, according to Psychology Today.
TikTok users can actually be seen making faces when they turn off the filter. “Use this filter if you want to cry”read a caption of a video of this type with more than 50,000 likes.
But it seems that Bold Glamour is just the beginning of a series of hyper-realistic facial modification filters.
On February 22, TikTok launched a new set of generative AI effects for creators at Effect House. The new tools—Eyebrow Eraser, Smile, and Pucker—can be used to modify a user’s facial features in real time.
Soon, most filters will likely begin to mimic the terrifyingly realistic effect that Bold Glamour has, and Witmer suggests this could have a lasting impact on society.
“I could see some people taking the filter to an extreme and obsessing over how they look with the filter on, perhaps trying to replicate this in real life.”explains the psychologist to Business Insider.
True to their prediction, the tiktokers The platform’s users have already started trying to recreate their filtered looks. @raazsbeauty shared a video that she tried to apply makeup to mimic the filter as closely as possible, but was still disappointed when she turned the filter off. “Umm, I guess makeup isn’t going to be enough,” read the caption on the TikTok, which has garnered nearly 30,000 likes as of March 8.
According to Witmer, the confusion about one’s own identity that can arise as a result of using hyper-realistic filters like Bold Glamour can even damage interpersonal relationships.
“When users feel dissatisfied with their natural appearance and judge themselves harshly in comparison to the filtered version of themselves, as well as others who use the filter, it can lead to disconnection from themselves and others.”he said to Business Insider.
Users may also internalize unrealistic beauty standards that can lead to interpersonal conflicts, as they tend to judge, criticize or impose expectations on others based on their appearance, according to Business Insider in an interview Annabelle Chow, a licensed clinical psychologist based in Singapore.
Chow also explains to Business Insider that teenagers are the most susceptible to the effects of these filters.
“They may not have developed realistic beauty standards or appropriate habits regarding screen time and social media use,” she explains. Business Insider.
Teenage brains are very impressionable, as they have more synaptic connections, according to neurologist Frances Elizabeth Jensen in an interview with The Guardian. This makes them the most vulnerable to the negative influences that filters like Bold Glamour can have.
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“I’m so happy my teenage self only had dog ears on Snapchat,” reads a caption on a TikTok video by creator @notsophiesilva. “I don’t even have low self-esteem like that but it’s even making me dislike my own face,” she says in the video, which has over a million views and 70,000 likes as of March 8.
“I’m worried about the younger generation. I don’t know if I would have been able to tell my beauty from a leaked photo when I was 11 or 13, especially with how much they are expected to appear on the Internet these days,” she tells Business Insider Brenda Varela, a licensed esthetician in New York and owner of The Bar, who also has a master’s degree in clinical mental health.
As someone who has seen the effects of beauty standards imposed by filters from two professional angles, Varela points to Business Insider One of the first things she noticed during her career transition was how people aspired to look like others on social media, unaware that they were setting unattainable “skin goals.” Varela adds that “those idealistic figures don’t even look like them in real life.”
In general, Many critics and TikTok users agree that filters like Bold Glamour should come with a disclaimer. It has the potential to cause negative effects on the wearer as well as those around them by reinforcing impossible beauty standards.
Business Insider has reached out to TikTok for comment on the widespread criticism the filter has received. “TikTok celebrates and encourages being true to yourself. Creative effects are part of what makes creating content fun, empowering self-expression and creativity,” a TikTok spokesperson responded.
The TikTok spokesperson went on to explain that “transparency is built into the effects experience, as all videos that use them are clearly flagged by default. We continue to work with expert partners and our community to help keep TikTok a positive and supportive space for everyone.”
Bold Glamour, and all other filter stickers, disappear after a TikTok video is downloaded off the platform. It’s when a TikTok has been reposted on other platforms that it can be unclear to viewers that a filter is being used.
“If this becomes a problem, within 10 or 20 years we will have a very anxious, overly critical, exponentially depressed and, in general, unhappy society,” Varela told Business Insider.
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Tags: Social Media, Health, Influencers, Technology, TikTok