Is It Wrong to Retouch Photos?

    You’ve snapped the best selfie ever. The lighting is perfect. The angle is just right. 

    Should you post it?

    Not yet. Instead, you open a photo-editing app and get to work. You make your smile brighter and your skin flawless. You slim down your cheeks and widen your eyes. 

    Now it’s ready to post. 

    The only question is, did that make you feel better—or worse?

    You’ve snapped a great selfie. The lighting is perfect. The angle is too. 

    Should you post it?

    Not yet. First, you open a photo-editing app. You make your eyes brighter. You make your skin perfect. You slim down your cheeks. You widen your eyes.

    Now it’s ready to post.

    The question is: Did that make you feel better . . . or worse?

    You’ve snapped a fantastic selfie. The lighting is perfect, and the angle is just right.

    You’re almost ready to post it—but first, you open a photo-editing app and get to work. You make your eyes brighter and your skin flawless. You slim down your cheeks and widen your eyes.

    Now it’s ready to post.

    The only question is, did altering your image make you feel better—or worse?

    These days, millions of people around the world retouch—or edit—their photos. Apps like Facetune make it easy. With a simple click, you can make your teeth whiter. You can even adjust the shape of your face.

    But most teens say they aren’t using these apps to completely change the way they look. They’re making smaller changes, like removing pimples. For them, these edits make social media less stressful. “I haven’t done it myself, but it’s tempting,” says Nate, 13. “Who doesn’t want to feel better about how they look?”

    Retouching photos is also a way to level the playing field. For years, models have appeared in magazines with perfect skin. Their photos are edited by people whose job it is to make them look perfect. Now everyone has that power.

    These days, millions of people retouch—or edit—their photos. Apps like Facetune make it easy. You can make your teeth whiter. You can even change the shape of your face.

    But most teens say they don’t use these apps to completely change the way they look. They make smaller changes, like removing pimples. For them, these edits make social media less stressful. “I haven’t done it myself, but it’s tempting,” says Nate, 13. “Who doesn’t want to feel better about how they look?”

    Retouching photos also makes things fairer. For years, models have appeared in magazines with perfect skin. People edit their photos. These people are paid to make the models look perfect. Now everyone has that power.

    These days, millions of people around the world retouch—or edit—their photos. With apps like Facetune, you can easily make your teeth appear whiter and even adjust the shape of your face.

    But most teenagers say they use these apps for minor changes like removing pimples, not to dramatically change their appearance. For them, minor changes can make social media less stressful. “I haven’t done it myself, but it’s tempting,” says Nate, 13. “Who doesn’t want to feel better about how they look?”

    Retouching photos is also a way to level the playing field. For years, models have appeared in magazines with flawless-looking skin—because their photos are edited by people whose job it is to make them look perfect. Now everyone has that power.

    Some teens argue that they can always tell when a photo has been Facetuned. They say it’s hard to fool them into thinking people are really that perfect. 

    But Kyla says it might not matter. Sometimes she’ll play around with the app, just for fun. Does she know the retouched photos aren’t what she really looks like? Sure. Still, it can mess with her mind. “You start to wish you looked like that in real life,” she says.

    So next time you take a selfie, think before you retouch. Ask: Is it more important to look perfect or to look like yourself? 

    Some teens say they can tell when a photo has been Facetuned. They say they don’t think people really look that perfect.

    But Kyla says it might not matter. Sometimes she’ll play around with the app, just for fun. Does she know the edited photos aren’t what she really looks like? Sure. Still, it can mess with her mind. “You start to wish you looked like that in real life,” she says.

    So next time you take a selfie, think before you retouch. Which matters more: looking perfect or looking like yourself?

    Some teens insist that they can always tell when a photo has been Facetuned. They say it’s hard to fool them into thinking people are really that perfect.

    But Kyla says it might not matter. Sometimes she’ll play around with the app, just for fun. She knows the retouched photos aren’t what she really looks like, but it can still mess with her mind. “You start to wish you looked like that in real life,” she explains.

    So next time you take a selfie, consider this before you retouch: Is it more important to look perfect or to look like yourself?