Article by: Vasundhara Sinha
Image Credit: Getty Images
“The world is a stage and all the men and women merely players” -William Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare, back in the 16th century, had no idea when he said this how true the words would ring today. The social media frenzy of today has offered everyone a platform that allows them to be a somebody in a small pool of nobodies.
But this audience is a fickle one, with a tendency to gravitate towards the next big thing leaving the performers scrambling to stay relevant.
Social media with its aesthetic traps has given putting your best foot forward an entirely different meaning. Now it’s more of taking pictures and videos of your best life and slamming it in the face. And if you are not constantly living your best life? Just edit it to fit the mould and maybe somewhere, you will start fitting in too.
Filters seem the easy way out.
Why opt for dangerous skin procedures and expensive, perfectly clicked photographs by a professional photographer, when we can just contour the normal, unlikeable parts of our lives? And they also allow us (when asked about their copious usage) to say it’s just filters. And in this statement lies the danger these filters pose.
They allow us to believe that the people who use them live perfect lives, where perfection is not measured in morals and ethics but in beauty. They allow us to remove the ‘blemishes’ from our lives making us forget that these ‘blemishes’ are in fact natural and perfectly normal. Filters skew our view of reality and let us believe the make-believe instead.
Then why are they deemed harmless by many?
The answer lies in people, going out of their way to become their social media selves. Where men and women are getting expensive and often times dangerous, cosmetic procedures to augment themselves. In contrast, filters seem harmless and a far more easily available option.
The problem with filters is that while they are sharpening our jawlines, they are blurring the differences between individuals. They edit our faces, our looks and even our backgrounds to suit whatever is in vogue at the time. In doing so, they edit our individuality making it seem as if there is only one right way to be.
The over usage of filters in today’s day and age also poses some very important questions.
Why do we feel the incessant need to alter our life to suit society? Why do we not celebrate our uniqueness and look at it as an asset? Why does life have to look a certain way for it to be celebrated? And why are we trying to compete with algorithm generated standards? Shakespeare in the 21 st century would be a very confused playwright indeed, spending his time wondering why everyone is clamouring onto the stage and why do they look alike?
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Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet?
Resume Mistakes That Are Easy To Overlook
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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Nice Article