The perfect babe
Are newborn social media filters the new trend?
© chomplearn_2001 / Adobe Stock
Apparently, impeccably retouched babies are replacing reality on Instagram. A mother-to-be expresses concern over the edited photos of the little ones on social media.
Most of our own childhood photos were still taken with analogue or digital cameras. Full of imperfection, we laugh into the lens in dirty clothes, with scratches or a face smeared with pap. Because our parents didn’t even have the methods to beautify the photos back then. On Instagram, this beautiful view of childhood seems to be changing. Baby pictures are supposed to be pretty, children are uploaded with filters in videos, everything seems to lean towards the ideal of beauty. And of course, these highly polished photos are also an expression of family pride on social media. But shouldn’t we also appreciate and share the imperfect beautiful moments?
Instagram filters + Co: Better skin for newborns
Influencer and journalist Danae Mercer writes on Instagram that she now often sees instructions for editing children’s photos. Videos explaining how parents make their baby pictures look more perfect. Better colors or smoother skin are in focus, for example. Also, younger kids and teens would often show up among their suggested content, their eyes altered with a strong filter to look cuter. But possibly also to make the children unrecognizable to strangers. “I just hope we don’t lose the magical, chaotic, and UNEDITED mess of childhood,” Mercer said in her video.
Dangerous or harmless?
What might it trigger in a child when, at a certain age, he realizes that most of his pictures are only published in a changed form when they are published? As mom-to-be Mercer describes it, it’s like trying to tell them their faces could be even better. Upgradable. With smooth skin and shiny stories. “It’s like we’re whispering perfection in their ear,” writes the influencer. “I’m worried because kids are like sponges. Already, in this social media world, they’re absorbing so much more than we realize.” After all, parents are usually the most important reference person for children, and the little ones learn what they encounter in their young lives.
For more smeared children’s faces
The challenges children can face online are endless. But now it’s up to parents to guide and support them on this journey, says Danae Mercer. She doesn’t want to judge the women who retouch their baby photos. After all, she is currently still pregnant and cannot yet know whether she will later remove a birthmark or the scaly skin on a picture. Using filters on young girls so that they can be seen with big eyes and better skin feels strange and also more dangerous to them. “Right now I just want to say that I hope we don’t lose the tangled mess of childhood,” she writes. “With all the falls and scrapes, the wild hair and the food smeared faces. I hope we capture those moments just as much. Imperfectly perfect and magical just because they’re true.”
Social media can become addictive to children
The correct use of mobile phones, iPads or the Internet in general is very important in our day and age. Because the use can also lead to dependency or psychological problems. It is estimated that around 100,000 teenagers in Germany are addicted to social media, according to the results of one DAK study about the country’s 12 to 17 year olds.
What children and young people see on social media or experience there with other users can influence them and their self-esteem as well – both positively and negatively. So showing them that not everything online is true is relevant. On the one hand, the Internet offers many opportunities, but it also harbors risks – for children and adults alike. That’s why parental support is needed so that the little ones learn how to use them responsibly and so that cell phones and the world of the internet don’t become a problem.
Sources used: Instagram/danaemercer, schau-hin.info, jugendundmedien.ch