Instagram has decided to remove several filters of its wide offer available in Stories because of the bad influence that these can have on people's mental health. Can't think of what specific skins we're talking about? Keep reading and we'll tell you more.
These filters stay out of your Instagram Stories
As you well know, Instagram Stories are full of filters all types. The function of the social network is undoubtedly one of the star elements of the application and the filters one of its most used features, which is why the firm continually renews them and adds new options frequently (even created by users), with masks and effects of all kinds.
Among the latest additions you will have seen those related to aesthetic operations: in one of them you can put on the typical marks that are made with a marker to indicate the areas to be treated as if you were going to have a rhinoplasty, to raise your cheekbones and touch up your eyelids while in another your face is directly transformed with some abnormally large lips, extremely high eyebrows, a dwarf nose, and terrifyingly prominent cheekbones.
For many of us these masks are nothing more than filters with which to laugh and play the fool in front of our followers, however, for other people they can be a stressful element and become a focus of frustration important when you have certain insecurities.
This is stated by various specialists who have raised the alarm and attention to these latest filters in which you can see yourself with full lips or without any type of wrinkle - rather, we would say, without any type of expression. Such is the concern in this regard that Facebook itself (owner of Instagram) has taken action on the matter and has decided to remove this type of filter, looking for the mental well-being of its users and not promoting that they feel bad or insecure when they use them.
At the moment, yes, it is a temporary measure. The filters, a spokesperson explains, have been temporarily removed to further study the effects these filters may have on mental health:
We are re-evaluating our policies, we want our filters to be a positive experience for people […] While we re-evaluate [them], we will remove all effects from the [effects] gallery associated with plastic surgery, stop approval of new effects in the pipeline similar to these and we will also eliminate those that are reported.
The idea, therefore, is to study carefully how these filters influence the perception we have about ourselves. It is not the first time that Instagram has taken measures of this type. In February, the platform decided to remove all images in which some type of self-harm could be seen, also seeking not to set a bad example among certain groups of more vulnerable users (such as adolescents, people with tendency to depression and, of course, those who tend to have self-injurious behaviors.
Recent research further suggests that excessive use of social media can cause feelings of depression, due to ideals of unattainable lives and bodies that show up in them. And in this Instagram or, rather, many of his influencers They are real experts.