Before And After Photos Expose How Social Media Editing Subtly Warps Real Beauty
It’s no secret that many people edit the photos they post on social media, but sometimes editing isn’t as obvious as one might think.
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Blogger and social media star Xiaxue is open about both her plastic surgery procedures and photo editing. She sees Photoshop as digital makeup that completes her process.
To me, aesthetics still matter. Every girl wants to take a photo of herself with nicely-styled hair and make-up. The Photoshop is just extra make-up lor. I think the end product looks nicer.
— Xiaxue
For a story with Singaporean online magazine 8 Days, Xiaxue created before and after photos of herself that show what she really looks like versus the idealized version she posts online. This involved making her chin smaller and her figure longer.
The before photo was also shot from a lower angle, which makes Xiaxue seem taller than she is.
I’m always appearing in videos, and everyone can see the real me. I’m not trying to pretend to be 1.8m tall. Everyone knows that I’m freaking short!
— Xiaxue
“I know a lot of people edit their photos,” she said. “but it’s not quite so drastic [. . . ] I don’t care if you know it’s fake, but the end product is pleasing to the eye.”
In addition to changing the proportions of her face and body, she also enhancing the lighting in some photos, which can give her skin an unnaturally smooth and radiant look.
Despite being an online personality herself, Xiaxue isn’t the biggest fan of influencers, who she says are “impersonal.”
I hate influencers. They are the worst. [. . .] I started out being a blogger! I think a blogger has personality — you’re blogging about your life, and people like you for who you are. It’s a curated version of yourself, but it’s still you. But on Instagram, it’s very impersonal. You are just a model in a picture. You are not you, you are just there as part of the photo. Your captions are just stupid quotes about life copied from somewhere. I don’t care about these people.
— Xiaxue
She says her honesty separates her from influencers who aren’t up front about the images they are sharing online, images that can affect how people view beauty.
Oh, I think the huge difference is that I admit that I Photoshop my pictures. I make it very clear that that’s clearly not what I look like, and sometimes I post a before and after photo. Everyone who knows me knows. I don’t think it’s fakery per se — it’s like putting on a nice jacket, except that you know that under the jacket, you’re still fat.
— Xiaxue
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