Facetune might outlive us all. What does this say about our culture?

By Bianca Borissova

Updated May 19, 2020 at 03:45 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

3137

Lightricks, the company mostly known for its app Facetune, just raised $135 million to expand its popular selfie-perfecting products. With the company valued at over £1 billion, it is safe to say that face-editing apps are here to stay. 

Lightricks was one of the first companies to implement a subscription price for its mobile applications, initially costing $3.99 in 2013. Facetune 2, although free to download, has a $5.99 fee per month to access all unlimited features and content (alternatively, you can get a one-off purchase for $69.99). The app has an estimated monthly revenue of $3 million. In 2017, Facetune was the most downloaded app, with celebrities like Khloe Kardashian, James Charles and Tana Mongeu expressing enthusiasm over using it. Facetune even sponsored one episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race in season 11, gaining increased popularity among the LGBTQ+ community.

Photo editing and air-brushing is not a new trend or a new idea, but what makes Facetune so popular is the simplicity of it. Unlike Photoshop, Facetune only offers a handful of tools that are easy to use, letting users digitally manipulate their image in minutes and allowing anyone to create a digital persona, far from their real selves. In more than 5 years, the app became a catalyst in creating the ‘Instagram face’ aesthetic, as well as becoming the centre of conversation when discussing the discrepancy between our crafted online selves and reality. 

While there is nothing wrong with people wanting to use these apps, the criticism around the topic is more than understandable. The increased use of apps like Snapchat and Facetune has been flagged as a potential cause for body dysmorphia—there’s even a new phenomenon called the “Snapchat dysmorphia”, described as people requesting surgery to appear like the edited version of themselves under the Snapchat filters. 

Just recently, Qiaobiluo Dianxia, a vlogger from China known as Your Highness Qiaobilou was exposed to be 58 years old, despite posing as a young woman. She was masking her face behind a filter during a live stream on Douyu, when a technical glitch revealed her true identity to 100,000 fans. Before the internet starts accusing Dianxia of ‘deception’, it is important to consider what could have motivated her to do this. According to China’s Global Times, Dianxia was “worshiped as a cute goddess”, with some of her fans giving her over £11, 000 during streaming sessions. Sadly, digital filters and Facetune retouching remind us that we exist in a culture that praises unreachable, non-existent perfection and favours outdated ‘traditional’ beauty standards, which predominantly impact young women. 

And it is true—ageism is extremely prevalent in this. Would Dianxia have an online career as successful had she used her true identity? Probably not. Therefore, before you cancel yet another woman for ‘deceiving’ you by failing to live up to these unattainable and frankly narrow-minded standards, think why she got there in the first place. 

Julia SH

Even when it comes to job applications, companies have begun asking people to stop uploading photographs where they appeared to be using such filters. Since Snapchat came out with filters in 2015 (remember the dog filter that went viral for years after that?), face filters have evolved dramatically. In 2019, we see a shift from the traditional ‘Instagram face’ aesthetic to a much more futuristic, robotic-cyborg one. With filters like Beauty3000 taking over and going viral, it does seem that we are shifting towards a new digital existence. Traditional notions of beauty and its standards might be slowly changing, making it hard to predict how long the popularity of apps like Facetune will exist for, but, for now, it is still very much prevalent.

With online forums such as r/instagramreality exposing the differences between people’s constructed faces with the real ones, there are countless arguments that it is apps like Facetune that allow for deception in the first place. Yes, we, as a generation so fixated on our social media image have brought this upon ourselves, but why do we have the need to withhold this fake image? Most importantly, why do we have to shame others for choosing to put on this fake persona, if it makes them happy and confident? We can’t blame all our human insecurities on technology and Instagram alone—it is an issue deeply rooted in our society. 

Keep On Reading

By Abby Amoakuh

Selena Gomez cried on camera about ICE raids and mass deportation but did we need to see it?

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Comedian Druski issues statement following serious abuse allegations in Diddy lawsuit

By Charlie Sawyer

Lawmakers pressure Trump to provide evidence that Venezuelan asylum seeker Andry Hernández Romero is still alive

By Abby Amoakuh

I got on the exclusive dating app Raya and discovered that it’s less about love and more about networking

By Charlie Sawyer

Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper accuses former soccer coach of sexual harassment in new docuseries

By Abby Amoakuh

Is OnlyFans star Bonnie Blue married? Everything you need to know about the adult star’s secret hubby

By Abby Amoakuh

From Andrew Garfield to Cillian Murphy, why are Gen Z women obsessed with slutty glasses?

By Charlie Sawyer

BrewDog co-founder James Watt’s problematic past resurfaces amid work/life balance controversy

By Abby Amoakuh

Channel 4 documentary heavily criticised for producing nonconsensual deepfake of Scarlett Johansson

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Trevor Noah under fire for immigration jokes at the 2025 Grammys amid mass deportation operation

By Alma Fabiani

The disturbing TikTok trend sexualising fake Down syndrome faces using AI filters

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Robert F. Kennedy Jr declares war on teen sperm count, stating it’s an existential crisis

By Charlie Sawyer

Harry Potter star defends Tom Felton over his controversial comments on JK Rowling’s transphobia

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

What’s Dior bags got to do with the Delta plane crash? Unpacking the wildest conspiracy theories about the Toronto flight

By Abby Amoakuh

Is Telegram the biggest threat to women’s safety? Chats for rape advice and sharing nudes suggest so

By Abby Amoakuh

Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow gives up restrictive diet to be strong instead of thin following backlash

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

TikTok’s viral Chubby Filter sparks backlash for promoting fatphobia

By Abby Amoakuh

Chappell Roan faces backlash from TikTok moms for likening motherhood to hell

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Keep vaping or your Tamagotchi dies. Introducing the latest vape invention in New York

By Kit Warchol

Is Dry January sexist? A look into the gendered politics behind Gen Z’s favourite wellness trend