The world of filters is where looks are everything and nothing else. While there are many exceptions, social media is still notorious for breeding and celebrating vanity, from boosting your ego to making others feel miserable.
Sometimes it is too much for the photo-sharing site. Reality-bending is a result of people editing their pictures beyond the norm. Those instances are being called out by the subreddit “Instagram Reality“, which is sharing pictures of people taking a step too far.
Below are some of the most recent posts from the community. You can check out our previous features on reality here, here, and here.
1. I Love This.
2. Why would someone do that? The original is amazing.
3. Not even Judas was Treacherous.
In order to understand social media and the people who go above and beyond to stand out, we have to look at the other cultures that paved the way. It is celebrity culture. Both have the same hunger for an idealized image, but also the need to deliver substance and make it interesting for the viewers.
4. I don’t know what she looked like.
5. Found On A Dating App.
6. She is the best. These are all photos that she posted on her story. She is Beautiful, Confident, and Silly.
“Celebrity culture has been a significant part of popular media in the United States since the early 20th century. Its origins can be traced in large part to the Hollywood star system,” King told us. “By the 1920s, film studios had developed a system for crafting star images—from the stars’ names to how they dressed to the types of film roles they played. Studios relied on their own promotional departments as well as fan magazines to create these images and make them familiar to audiences, promoting fan attachment to the stars,” she explained.
7. It doesn’t always have to be noticeable.
8. Don’t be afraid to age, peeps.
9. Another One.
It turns out that for decades, “most of this publicity remained largely positive because it was heavily controlled by the film studios, offering highly calculated views of celebrities’ personalities and private lives.”
The advent of tabloids by the mid-twentieth century changed everything. The more salacious aspects of celebrities’ personal lives increased when the attention to gossip increased. “Often this coverage was out of celebrity control; but, at the same time, celebrity has become dependent on the gossip industry because it drives audience interest and fascination,” the professor said.
10. Flexxing on real muscles.
11. While browsing a dating app, I found this one.
12. His Jawline is definitely real.
In the early 2000s, expectations about access to celebrities dramatically increased thanks to reality television and the internet. King explained: “Reality television fostered the idea that anyone could become famous by ‘playing themselves,’ and there was the corollary expectation that celebrities should engage with the genre to give audiences an idea of who they ‘really are.’”
13. Shame on the news outlet that altered the picture.
14. Imagine your surprise when you see her for the first time without makeup.
15. She Claims To Not Edit Her Photos.
Meanwhile, “the development of digital media and the internet meant that there were endless opportunities for audiences to seek information about celebrities, which meant that media companies also felt obligations to generate more and more content about them.” The era saw a proliferation of websites devoted to celebrity gossip.
16. The longer you stare, the worse it gets.
17. Her Poor Friend.
18. How Is This Legal?
All of these expectations about access to celebrities were amplified by the development of social media. “Platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat give audiences the sense that they can see into celebrities’ private lives and get ‘behind the scenes access to them. Even though the glimpses audiences see are highly curated and carefully crafted, they suggest that fans can get an ‘authentic’ idea of who celebrities are,” King explained.
19. Same Day. Insta vs. Pap Picture.
20. At Least She’s Self Aware.
21. When you have a friend who edits the whole group.
22. Is it just me or does his head look small?
23. She was called out for using heavy filters.
24. Found this one! He claims to be 31 years old and has fake watches and cars.
25. She filters her pictures on every post and denies it.
