20.06.2025
Filtered Youth: Why No One Grows Old on Social Media?
"I've tried beauty filter once and felt that I shouldn't exist"
"I really want to encourage women not to be ashamed of their natural beauty and to express it unapologetically, confidently, and with pride. In a world where filters often blur the lines between real and artificial, I believe it's more powerful than ever to show up as we are. Wrinkles, freckles, smile lines - they are all stories, not flaws. Through this blog, I hope to create a space where aging is not hidden, but honored, and where authenticity becomes our shared language".
Author: Olesia Kharina
Media and Information Student at the University of Amsterdam
I'm not even getting old, but should be ashamed of it already?!
When I was 14, I tried a beauty filter for the first time. It smoothed my skin, narrowed my nose, enlarged my lips... just made me someone else. I liked it. And then it got scary. I'm 21 now. I'm not a teenager anymore, but every time I open TikTok or Instagram, I see the same face. And this face doesn't age. This face has no wrinkles, dark circles, flabbiness or blemishes. It is eternally young, perfectly symmetrical, smooth. It doesn't look like me, my mom, or my grandmother. And it's so strange.
Literally every woman once in a lifetime:
Why are we so afraid of old age that the algorithms of social networks literally erase it from our screens? Why does TikTok's aging filter cause tears and panic rather than acceptance? Why is it that in a world where old age is a privilege, we are taught every day that it is a mistake??
Society:
Unfortunately, we don't have answers to your questions :)
I'm only 21, but sometimes it feels like I'm already late, that I'm getting old. Yes, I know, it sounds ridiculous ahah. But I can feel it in the feed. Every time I open TikTok, where another filter erases the shadows under my eyes, brightens my cheekbones, and changes my face, it's like someone is making it clear over and over again that who you are is not enough.⠀
I'm from Russia. Here, a woman's youth is her most valuable currency. It is literally considered that your best years are your teenage years. Do you understand the extent of all of the absurdity? After 20, the "struggle" begins. The struggle for the smoothness of the skin, for the symmetry of the face, for the right to remain visible. But most of all, for the right to be yourself.
I'm from Russia. Here, a woman's youth is her most valuable currency. It is literally considered that your best years are your teenage years. Do you understand the extent of all of the absurdity? After 20, the "struggle" begins. The struggle for the smoothness of the skin, for the symmetry of the face, for the right to remain visible. But most of all, for the right to be yourself.
"This is especially acutely felt when you come from Russia, a country where a woman's youth is considered her main resource. Our so-called “prime” starts at 14 and ends at 20. All that's next is “you're losing your shape,” “it's time to get pumped up,” “you urgently need to see a cosmetologist.” In such a culture, aging isn't just scary—it's exclusion. Old age is not a status, but a threat".
Daria, 20 years old
Student and producer in Russia
Sometimes I look at these "aging filters" and something is slowly breaking down inside me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of old age. I'm afraid that even old age "must!!" be photogenic in social media. You have to age beautifully, otherwise you will cease to be acceptable.. I often think: what if old age is not a sentence, but a privilege?
And although professional media is increasingly talking about the dangers of filters for teenagers, especially girls, it seems to me that one topic still doesn't sound loud enough: how filters contribute to the stigmatization of aging. That's exactly what I want to talk about in this blog. Because I want to grow old and not be afraid of myself. Because it's important for me to know that at 70, my face will not be a mistake, but a story. And that there's a place for it in the social media even without a filter.
My personal experience
I was a teenager when the first beauty filters appeared on Instagram. It seemed like a game back then. I could change the color of my eyes, "improve" my nose, add a light blush. No one said it was harmful. Instead, there were more likes, and "you look so good!" sounded more often.
As I grew up, my face changed, and real imperfections appeared, the ones that filters were so willing to erase. And every time I saw myself without them, I felt that something had gone wrong. My face is not the same. I'm not like that girl from Instagram stories..
Later, I realized that filters don't just transform. They form a look. Look at yourself first. Then look at the others. The feed is filled with faces that don't exist in reality. They have no pores, no redness, no fatigue. And what's scarier is that there is no age.
I don't need to read scientific articles to understand that filters affect self-esteem. I am a clear example of this scientific article. A girl who knew from the age of 15 how to pose properly for the camera to make the nose look smaller, how to "put" herself in the frame of other people's expectations..
As I grew up, my face changed, and real imperfections appeared, the ones that filters were so willing to erase. And every time I saw myself without them, I felt that something had gone wrong. My face is not the same. I'm not like that girl from Instagram stories..
Later, I realized that filters don't just transform. They form a look. Look at yourself first. Then look at the others. The feed is filled with faces that don't exist in reality. They have no pores, no redness, no fatigue. And what's scarier is that there is no age.
I don't need to read scientific articles to understand that filters affect self-esteem. I am a clear example of this scientific article. A girl who knew from the age of 15 how to pose properly for the camera to make the nose look smaller, how to "put" herself in the frame of other people's expectations..
The photo of a 15 year old me with a popular Instagram filter :)
no way did I look like this in real life!!
And now, when I see aging filters that add wrinkles and gray hair, I notice how girls shudder. Someone is laughing. Someone looks at the camera and says, "If I look like this, I don't want to get old."
A culture of stigmatization of aging
This year I came across a TikTok where a woman used a popular aging filter. She looked at herself with disgust, repeating, "I'm scared. I don't want to look like that." It wasn't an exaggeration or a joke. It was a sincere reaction. And it hurt so much, as if someone had said that about my future appearance.
Youth is a gift, old age is a reward. But we live in a culture where people are afraid to accept this reward. Where an aging face is considered a mistake, a deviation from the norm, "unsuitable for the camera." Especially if you're a woman.
Youth is a gift, old age is a reward. But we live in a culture where people are afraid to accept this reward. Where an aging face is considered a mistake, a deviation from the norm, "unsuitable for the camera." Especially if you're a woman.
I grew up in Russia, where a woman is allowed to be beautiful until exactly 25, and then be a mother, be a shadow of her husband, be anyone but herself. My grandmother used to say, "Old age is a time of freedom," and now I see how social media turns it into a time of shame :)
Filters on Instagram and TikTok don't just "enhance" — they erase. And first of all, they erase the signs of age. They smooth out foreheads, remove nasolabial folds, and lighten the skin. Algorithms raise content to the top, where the faces are like from a 3D render. And ordinary people with wrinkles, redness, and age spots become invisible.
Why do we call "self-care" everything that is aimed at combating aging? Why do Bold Glamour videos collect millions on TikTok, but videos without filters are scrolled through?
Why do we call "self-care" everything that is aimed at combating aging? Why do Bold Glamour videos collect millions on TikTok, but videos without filters are scrolled through?
An illustrative example: this YouTube video has gained 4.7 million views. Of course, I am most impressed by the cover and that the author of this video is a man. Yes, I understand that this man is a doctor, that he is a cosmetologist. But, guys, why didn't this cosmetologist make exactly the same video for men? Why didn't this cosmetologist put a man on the cover? And why does a man decide what women should look like?
Why did a real human face become a threat?
it is not an accident - it is a system!!
When I first thought about who benefits from our self-hatred, a simple answer popped into my head: it is not an accident, it is a system.
AR filters and algorithms that promote "improved" versions of ourselves are not just technology. It's a business. Meta, TikTok, Snapchat — all these platforms profit from our desire to live up to the ideal that they also give us.
When you see that your unfiltered face gets three times fewer likes, you're not just sad. You draw a conclusion. You understand that you want to be visible. And to be visible, you need to be like the ideal. And you turn on the filter again.
You see yourself "improved" every day, a hundred times, in stories, in reels, in the mirror of the front camera. And at some point you want to fix this "improved" version. You go to the cosmetologist, to the surgeon. You buy anti-aging creams, aesthetic treatments, collagen, injections, lasers. The economy of your insecurity is a billion dollar market.
And the companies know this. There were filters that mimic lifting. Filters that erase wrinkles are at the top. Even when Meta removed some of the masks that mimic surgery, Instagram still offers dozens of masks with a "young face" effect. And almost none of them are labeled as "rejuvenating".
It's a natural human desire to be seen. Platforms monetize attention. We cling to the likes. The younger you are = the more attention you get. And it's impossible to win this race.
On the Internet, you always want to show the best version of yourself.. younger, more beautiful, more perfect ahah.
When you see that your unfiltered face gets three times fewer likes, you're not just sad. You draw a conclusion. You understand that you want to be visible. And to be visible, you need to be like the ideal. And you turn on the filter again.
You see yourself "improved" every day, a hundred times, in stories, in reels, in the mirror of the front camera. And at some point you want to fix this "improved" version. You go to the cosmetologist, to the surgeon. You buy anti-aging creams, aesthetic treatments, collagen, injections, lasers. The economy of your insecurity is a billion dollar market.
And the companies know this. There were filters that mimic lifting. Filters that erase wrinkles are at the top. Even when Meta removed some of the masks that mimic surgery, Instagram still offers dozens of masks with a "young face" effect. And almost none of them are labeled as "rejuvenating".
It's a natural human desire to be seen. Platforms monetize attention. We cling to the likes. The younger you are = the more attention you get. And it's impossible to win this race.
On the Internet, you always want to show the best version of yourself.. younger, more beautiful, more perfect ahah.
So perfect that life turns into the movie "Substance" starring you.
Why is old age really a privilege, and wrinkles are cool?
When TikTok turned on automatic retouching, many people didn't even notice. But the teenagers noticed. The girls noticed. We all noticed this because we were taught to be ashamed of a face without improvements.
But a face with traces of life on it is not a mistake. It's a memory. It's a beauty that doesn't have to be eternal to be real.
But a face with traces of life on it is not a mistake. It's a memory. It's a beauty that doesn't have to be eternal to be real.
Old age is a privilege. Youth is given to many, but old age is given to the chosen. It sounds weird, especially if you're in your early twenties like me. But the longer I watch how youth is deified in the digital space, the more clearly I understand: We've forgotten how to appreciate the fact of growing up. Social media presents aging as a mistake that needs to be masked. The tapes are full of tips: "How not to get old," "How to look 25 at 40," "How to avoid wrinkles." And less and less often it sounds simple: "How to accept yourself."
Filters don't just decorate, they adjust the age. They erase bags under the eyes, remove nasolabial folds, and make the facial features "taut." We begin to perceive the absence of these signs as the norm, and their presence as a cause for alarm.
But old age is not a mistake. It is the result of life. With every wrinkle comes a story of love, pain, loss, and happiness.
When TikTok offered me an aging filter, I expected to laugh. But in the end, I saw something touching in the reflection. I look like my mom, my grandmother, like all these people I love very much!! And at that moment, I thought, what if there's beauty in that, too?
Aging is not about the loss of beauty. It's about rethinking it. It's about learning to see the value in what we used to try to hide.
And if we don't learn to talk about it, accept it, and display it in the media, we will continue to erase ourselves piece by piece.
Filters don't just decorate, they adjust the age. They erase bags under the eyes, remove nasolabial folds, and make the facial features "taut." We begin to perceive the absence of these signs as the norm, and their presence as a cause for alarm.
But old age is not a mistake. It is the result of life. With every wrinkle comes a story of love, pain, loss, and happiness.
When TikTok offered me an aging filter, I expected to laugh. But in the end, I saw something touching in the reflection. I look like my mom, my grandmother, like all these people I love very much!! And at that moment, I thought, what if there's beauty in that, too?
Aging is not about the loss of beauty. It's about rethinking it. It's about learning to see the value in what we used to try to hide.
And if we don't learn to talk about it, accept it, and display it in the media, we will continue to erase ourselves piece by piece.
A message to all of the girls who are reading this <3
I would like this blog to be a message to all the girls. Those girls who are 14 and those girls who are 70.
I know you think you'll become beautiful when you grow up, or when you pass exams, or when you have money, or when your children grow up. That you just need to "fix up" a bit. But please understand: You're already beautiful. Your face is not a draft. Not before and not after. It's alive.
Don't believe people who tell that you need to look good enough to be liked by algorithms, you need to look young, because youth is beauty and strength. But what about a woman who gave birth to 5 children.. is her body not strong and not beautiful? And the woman who laughed and smiled so often that there are wrinkles on her face now.. isn't that the beauty? Isn't the beauty of being human? With your own emotions? Isn't the beauty of even looking at this stupid aging filter and seeing similar features to your own grandparents there, rather than lamenting “oh my God, how bad I look”?
I notice how my peers give injections and hide their age. I see how women who laugh and live lose their "visibility" simply because they get older. I understand that the system in which we live suggests that youth is capital, old age is disappearance. But always remember: you are more than a filter. More than a perfect angle. More than the approval of the algorithm.
I know you think you'll become beautiful when you grow up, or when you pass exams, or when you have money, or when your children grow up. That you just need to "fix up" a bit. But please understand: You're already beautiful. Your face is not a draft. Not before and not after. It's alive.
Don't believe people who tell that you need to look good enough to be liked by algorithms, you need to look young, because youth is beauty and strength. But what about a woman who gave birth to 5 children.. is her body not strong and not beautiful? And the woman who laughed and smiled so often that there are wrinkles on her face now.. isn't that the beauty? Isn't the beauty of being human? With your own emotions? Isn't the beauty of even looking at this stupid aging filter and seeing similar features to your own grandparents there, rather than lamenting “oh my God, how bad I look”?
I notice how my peers give injections and hide their age. I see how women who laugh and live lose their "visibility" simply because they get older. I understand that the system in which we live suggests that youth is capital, old age is disappearance. But always remember: you are more than a filter. More than a perfect angle. More than the approval of the algorithm.
P.S. For my 70 year old version ahah, just know, I tried to do my best so that at the age of 70 you would not be ashamed of your natural beauty, because you're surrounded by people who aren't ashamed of it either, and you live in a world where old age is respected, and everyone is happy to show it.
I'm looking at your reflection in the mirror and see the beauty in what you've become. I feel good because I know that you're not shy about smiling because of your wrinkles, that you've been laughing all your life because life has really been fun!!
I know that your photos don't hide your age, but celebrate it. I know that you look at the camera without wanting to erase yourself.
And if you're reading this, then this is a huge gift for me!!
I'm looking at your reflection in the mirror and see the beauty in what you've become. I feel good because I know that you're not shy about smiling because of your wrinkles, that you've been laughing all your life because life has really been fun!!
I know that your photos don't hide your age, but celebrate it. I know that you look at the camera without wanting to erase yourself.
And if you're reading this, then this is a huge gift for me!!
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