The obsession of looking flawless on social media and impressing others with the number of followers or comments on a post has turned media into a distortion of reality. It is all about showing the best version of yourself and making others jealous by broadcasting how perfect your life is, or at least appears to be on an Instagram page. Social media platforms such as Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram nourish the deception of an ideal life. This need to appear as perfect has led to editing and photoshopping, furthering the misconception of how others really look. For example, Zendaya Coleman is a beautiful actress and model, but was extremely upset to find out that after a photoshoot, her body, hair, and face were all edited to have a more prominent "glow" and look better in the magazine. People say they are sick and tired of seeing unrealistic images across their media feed, yet these same people are so wrapped up in the media world themselves that they can't help but follow the trend of perfecting themselves and creating fake pictures as well. The media is also extremely impractical as it can be filled with bias and made up stories that only benefit the publisher. These false perceptions of perfection will continue to pose problems with the reliability of what people see in the media.
Hollywood Tabloids
The image on the right shows the percentage of accuracy within different tabloid magazines. Hollywood writers often times make up stories for more publicity. Tabloids on trending celebrities have grown more and more inaccurate and turn out to be false. Because of repetitive unreliable posts from multiple sources, people have grown to distrust the media and realize its tendency to create stories for more money, rather than really sharing honest news.
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Instagram is not Reality.
Above is an Image of Josy Letner's Instagram. Josie Letner is currently the most prominent figure on Instagram who people call "fake." She exemplifies the Instagram ideal of showing others the best version of yourself and ultimately wanting to make other jealous. However, Josy's heavy editing and dramatic filters have slowly opened her followers' eyes and helped majority of people realize that majority of social media is really just fake.
Fake Instagram Is Actually Real Instagram
Above is an image of @mollysegner's real Instagram and @trynnafindmolly which is her Finstagram. Side by side, the two look very different. Molly's so called real Instagram account (pictured on the left) looks far more edited, put together, and over all fake than her Finstagram. Her fake Instagram (pictured on the right) looks much more honest and spontaneous yet it is considered fake. Young people have realized that although it is called Finstagram, these fake accounts are far more realistic than anyone's public page. People say that their Finstagram is a fake account, but really Finstagram is the place to post about one's real life.
Finstagram - A place to be Real
“Finstas are private accounts that you only let your closest friends follow, You post things you wouldn’t want people other than your friends to see, like unattractive pictures, random stories about your day and drunk pictures from parties.”
-Amy Wesson (18)
Above is a quotation from the New York Times about the reality of Finstagram. Ironically Finstagram (Fake Instagram) shows the real side of teenagers because people use these accounts to show their everyday life such as a picture of themselves laying in bed or a pile of their homework they complain about having to do or even an ugly selfie without makeup on. Teenagers have realized that so called real Instagram accounts do not show who a person really is, but instead show who that person wants others to think they are.
Zendaya Calls Magazine Out for Photoshopping
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This is a video that shows the drastic difference between an edited photo and non edited photo of Zendaya Coleman. The magazine editors made her hair silky, her skin glow, and her arms and legs thinner. The magazine photoshopped the actual picture of Zendaya proving once again that most social media networks aren't realistic. Zendaya's honesty brought lots of attention towards the topic of photoshopping and has made many people realize that the media is not trustworthy nor realistic. |
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan is an international fashion magazine for women that includes various biased content about politics, relationships, and body image that shows up on social media platforms such as Snapchat. People see Cosmopolitan as an unreliable source because most of their articles lean towards one side politically. Their audience wants to read about what they believe in without confronting the conflict from opposing views.
School Blocks Cosmopolitan Magazine
This screenshot is from a search for Cosmopolitan Magazine on the school laptop, however, the website is blocked by Benilde-St. Margaret's. This shows that the administration at this school thinks the magazine portrays false news and media that they don't want their students viewing or using. Below the main block message, it shows that the site was categorized into news/media meaning that there is information on this page that is inappropriate or untrustworthy.
Google Searches - Trying to Perfect Your Instagram
"Above are screenshots of google results when people searched how to get the just rolled out of bed look" or "how to edit photos for Instagram." People search for ways to perfect their image online, while ironically promoting the idea that they didn't have to try. For example a teenage girl's "just rolled out of bed look" post actually takes an hour of pillow fluffing, hair straightening, and lighting adjusting. Because media has been around for so long, people are beginning to notice that the social world is a distortion of truth and only represents the ideal image of ourselves that we want others to see.
Citations
Hollywood Tabloid Chart
O'Connor, Maureen. "Which Tabloids Lie the Most?" Gawker, 28 Sept. 2010,
gawker.com/5638480/which-tabloids-lie-the-most. Accessed 2 Jan. 2018.
Josy Letner Instagram
"Instagram." Instagram, 2010, www.instagram.com/. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.
Molly Segner Finstagram and Rinstagram
"Instagram." Instagram, 2010, www.instagram.com/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
Finstagram - A Place to be Real Quotation
Safronova, Valeriya. "On Fake Instagram, a Chance to Be Real." The New York
Times, 18 Nov. 2015. The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/
fashion/instagram-finstagram-fake-account.html. Accessed 9 Jan. 2018.
Zendaya Calls out Magazine for Photoshopping Video Clip
"Zendaya Fights Back against Photoshop." YouTube, 23 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/
watch?v=hbTb_lAtDeo. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.
Cosmopolitan
Snapchat. Snap Inc., 2012, www.snapchat.com/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
School Blocks Cosmopolitan Magazine
"Cosmopolitan Magazine" www.google.com. Accessed 13 January 2018.
Google Searches Screenshots
“Is the Just Rolled out of Bed Look Fake?” www.google.com. Accessed 9 January 2018.
“People editing photos for Instagram” www.google.com. Accessed 9 January 2018.
O'Connor, Maureen. "Which Tabloids Lie the Most?" Gawker, 28 Sept. 2010,
gawker.com/5638480/which-tabloids-lie-the-most. Accessed 2 Jan. 2018.
Josy Letner Instagram
"Instagram." Instagram, 2010, www.instagram.com/. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.
Molly Segner Finstagram and Rinstagram
"Instagram." Instagram, 2010, www.instagram.com/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
Finstagram - A Place to be Real Quotation
Safronova, Valeriya. "On Fake Instagram, a Chance to Be Real." The New York
Times, 18 Nov. 2015. The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/
fashion/instagram-finstagram-fake-account.html. Accessed 9 Jan. 2018.
Zendaya Calls out Magazine for Photoshopping Video Clip
"Zendaya Fights Back against Photoshop." YouTube, 23 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/
watch?v=hbTb_lAtDeo. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.
Cosmopolitan
Snapchat. Snap Inc., 2012, www.snapchat.com/. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
School Blocks Cosmopolitan Magazine
"Cosmopolitan Magazine" www.google.com. Accessed 13 January 2018.
Google Searches Screenshots
“Is the Just Rolled out of Bed Look Fake?” www.google.com. Accessed 9 January 2018.
“People editing photos for Instagram” www.google.com. Accessed 9 January 2018.