In my Advertising and American Pop Culture class, my professor decided we were going to take a selfie, edit it as if we were posting it to social media, and then compare the original with the new one, and see how we felt about ourselves afterwards. This got me thinking a lot, but mainly about why we edit our photos in the first place? Are we using these images to market ourselves?
To the latter question, I think we most certainly are. We use our social media to show the best of each of us, even in some of the simplest ways.
Above are my before and after photos. To the left is my unedited selfie, and to the right is my edited selfie. While editing the photos, it felt like a science. Turn up the brightness, add some contrast, work with the shadow to make your eyes pop a little more, add some sharpness to define my lips a little bit with the lighting.Ā Then switch apps, and try to get rid of the seat belt, because who really wants to look at my seatbelt? Looking back at it, it made me feel like my editing created more issues that had to be resolved. And looking at the comparison makes me realize that I really didnāt do anything…
But why did these minimal edits mean so much to me? Iām not sure of the answer, and Iām sure for each person itās something different. I think for most people itās self confidence: but is there really much of a difference between my two photos? I would have never thought of posting the original, but after comparing the edits, was there really any problem to begin with?
As a society, we try to find ourselves and replicate what we find in our social media.Ā We put our best foot forward, and showcase our best moments on social media, hoping people will think they are our only moments.Ā I remember during a particularly rough patch in my life, a friend and I were talking and they said to me, āItās funny because if you looked at your social media (in particular my Instagram) it would look like youāre having the time of your life!ā And that is what we do to ourselves.Ā We showcase who we want to be seen as.Ā For instance my Instagram is full of my āadventuresā, celebrations of my friends, and advocacy for mental health awareness and hope.Ā But those pictures are also the best photos from the day and selfies that have been edited due to a lack of self confidence?
So what does it take to take a selfie with confidence, and not edit it? And there is no answer, and I donāt think it should matter.Ā If you want to look like a porcelain doll, turn your brightness up like I have done many times before! If you want your hair to look a more red than it really is, add a tint! And most importantly, if you donāt want people to see your seat belt, go ahead and cover it up!Ā If you have the confidence to post it, donāt second guess yourself, go ahead and post! More importantly, remember, itās nobodies business knowing anything about you or your life unless you want them to know it. So post consciously – donāt post things you wonāt want to talk about, or things you donāt want everyone to know about.Ā
Post and edit freely!
P.S. It took a lot of confidence to throw my own picture out there, and even let my professor show it in class! If I can do it you can too!
For Mville students:Ā The Advertising and American Pop Culture (Cam. 2022) class is taught by Professor Murray, and I would highly recommend taking it.
For everyone: I used to Apps in the processing of editing the photo above, first I used the Adobe
Photoshop Express App, and then to change the color of the seat belt I used the app Color Pop.Ā Interested in seeing my instagram and my āadventuresā feel free to follow me! mandafeeney13 on Instagram.