A now-viral TikTok filter is inadvertently inspiring a new perspective on growing older.
Picture your face a few decades from now. Maybe you have crow’s feet and pronounced under-eye bags. Your hair might have gone grey. You likely have some dark spots and hyperpigmentation. We’re taught to be scared of that inevitable transformation. But what if we embraced it instead?
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On TikTok, the “Aging” filter — which has over 10 billion views on the app — uses artificial intelligence to predict what you might look like in the future, showing users with sagged cheeks, thinned lips, fine lines and even yellowed teeth. And over the past week, the effect has become an agent of digital chaos.
At first, the filter set off something of a collective existential crisis. It has inspired panic-induced applications of sunscreen, intensified emphases on skincare regimens, and advice on procedures to “age as gracefully as possible.” It’s even prompted therapists to weigh in with advice on mitigating aging anxiety. This shock factor was most likely intended. Age-related filters reportedly do consistently well on TikTok, and it’s easy to see why.
Earlier this year, the “Teenage Look” filter went viral on the app. Unlike “Aging,” the effect smooths fine lines, softens complexions and shows people a simulated version of their high school selves. But even that trend sparked similar dread, with users pointing out how the filter’s nostalgia made them more aware of their own mortality. Both filters — while seemingly opposites of one another — exemplify our fear-fuelled obsession with marking our age, whether we’re looking back or looking ahead. The impacts reach beyond the internet, as plastic surgeons have reported a rise in patients asking to look like filtered selfies.
No matter what artificially enhanced version of…
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