Could social media be forced to clean up its act? Experts say young people, the drivers and target audience for sites like Instagram, are impatient to see greater authenticity online because of their growing awareness of how it can negatively affect their mental health.

Generation Z, people aged from 18 to 25, has been credited with the rise in popularity of ethical companies and now is thought to be responsible for changing how brands, specifically in the cosmetics world, approach their online presence.

Social media commentators are reporting a shift in behaviour away from the highly polished, aesthetically-pleasing world that Instagram used to serve up, in exchange for a "simple, back to basics" reality that is bringing people more authentic and more relatable role models.

That trend is supported by campaigns such as #filterdrop - which in 2020 encouraged social media users to post selfies without using a filter in the hope of seeing "more real skin" online.

Sasha Pallari, who leads the campaign, said she realised how damaging the use of filters - with their ability to brighten your skin, change your nose shape or plump your lips - was to people's metal health.

Sasha went on to lobby the Advertising Standards Authority, which, as a result, ruled that influencers could not use filters in adverts if they exaggerated the effect of a product.


"Gen Z are far more aware and conscious of brands' ethical position on things and what they stand for, and their expectations of brands to act responsibly," Matt Navarra said.

He is a leading social media commentator who previously advised the government as a digital communications expert.

"I think those expectations and understanding of this age group has put pressure on industry as a whole to change, so I would definitely say there has been an acceleration of this shift."

Sasha, a 30-year-old professional make-up artist and curve model from Somerset, claims companies ditching skin filters on social media is "no longer just a trend" but is now a "necessity".

"That is actually all I ever wanted," she said.

"It was never to 'out' people for not being confident enough to show up unfiltered, it was for there to be more restrictions to be put in place so that people don't have an option ... that is what I think has happened now.

"Brands have been made to realise how damaging this can be, it was a cycle that everyone was caught up in... but we are now in a better place for sure."

Mr Navarra agrees.

"What we have seen in social media over the last couple of years is this shift towards things that look less polished, less very aesthetically pleasing, much more simple and back to basics," he said.

"There has been an increase in how savvy they [younger people] are around what they are seeing is possibly not necessarily real."

He said the change in mindset was down to a combination of factors, including parenting and education, as well as campaign's like Sasha's, and a change in the type of role models children look up to.

One company hoping to set an example is Cult Beauty.

Last year it launched the UpCloseOnSkincare campaign aiming to dispel unrealistic depictions of skin.

Cult Beauty said it fully supported Sasha's campaign and was "stoked to see her passion drive actual change to the ASA regulations".

Its CEO Alexia Inge said: "Manipulating images to present an unattainable ideal, or over-represent how a product looks on the skin, hair or lashes should be consigned to history, like corsets and whitewashing."

She said The UpCloseOnSkincare campaign focused on "no filters, no photoshop… just skin".

According to its research, 45% of Cult Beauty's community said they would feel uncomfortable uploading an unfiltered image of their skin to social media.

Because of that, Ms Inge said it was important for the company to continue to encourage others "to celebrate and love the skin they were in".

Young people who spoke to the BBC about their experiences on social media have repeatedly mentioned the negative impact it has on them.

Hannah said she used to follow influencers on Instagram who made her feel bad about her body image.

"It got me thinking that my body needed to look like theirs, and I began to have unrealistic expectations of being a slim model.

"I found it was really damaging my mental health, so I took a step back and unfollowed them," she said.

'Instagram is life'

Now she says she follows body-positive accounts.

"I've started to follow people who look more like me, and that's improved my body confidence."

Despite the success of her #filterdrop campaign, Sasha remains concerned about the effect it can have on young people.

And she is not alone.

"Instagram is life and that virtual reality is becoming young people's reality," Mariam Adegoke, a GP and founder of the Adegoke Wellness Clinic, said.

Social media has led to an increased risk of anxiety, body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and depression, she added.

Dr Adegoke blamed filters for creating artificial standards of what beauty is meant to look like and said people comparing themselves to others on apps like Instagram was also negatively impacting mental health.


Original Post: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-60022871