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At this point, Instagram looks like an alternate universe. A place governed by its own laws. A place, where the ultimate creator is photo editing software.

In fact, it's so full of fake influencers, there's even a subreddit dedicated to calling them out, r/InstagramReality. "Social media is a breeding ground for Facetune and Photoshop," the online community writes on its page. "It's unbelievable how some people get away with it while others don't!"

These Internet detectives are on the quest to expose those who have taken it too far: guys who make their biceps so big, they warp the space-time continuum, women with skin so smooth, you can't tell where they chin ends and their necks begin, they're all here.

When you're done scrolling, check out our earlier articles on the subreddit here, here, and here.

#1

I'm Calling Emergency Services. This Injury Is Serious

I'm Calling Emergency Services. This Injury Is Serious

zznnd Report

In an earlier piece on r/InstagramReality, Bored Panda spoke to Siobhan Ward, a primary therapist at Life Works, a rehabilitation center that provides treatment for addictions and eating disorders, about the scope of social media addiction in the United Kingdom.

"If you broke 'social media addiction' down into categories, it would encompass other process or behavioral addictions such as porn and gambling, as well as eating disorders, especially predominant with the likes of Instagram," Ward explained. "It may be that the addiction is not with the social media itself, but the social media has become a tool of other addictions."

The therapist thinks people can't stop faking and editing their Instagram photos (even when it's an obvious lie) because of brain chemistry. "Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that comes into play with the addict — it is what tells us that we enjoy something and therefore need to do it again as it gives us pleasure."

"If the person is taking a lot of selfies that have to be 'perfect', then maybe they are not addicts. Instead, this could be a sign of a possible narcissistic personality disorder. Also, if someone is posting pictures to get as many likes as possible, they may not be getting certain needs met in their life. They may not have the love, support, or even safety that they need now or that they needed when they grew up and therefore have had to find another way to fill that hole," Ward said.

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#4

Jeebs

Jeebs

throwawarRAqwertyuio Report

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everclearshovel21 avatar
vickyz avatar
Vicky Z
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are doing it for us so we can have this post today and laugh our asses off 😅😅

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kathrynbaylis_1 avatar
Kathryn Baylis
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tiny head (which used to be called a pinhead), puffy lips, teeny-weeny nose, small-ish waist, and boobs from armpit to waistline. Yeah, no. This doesn’t happen in nature.

soul_and_sunset avatar
Jubum
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

looks like something I would expect in "Mars Attacks"

alexisdavar avatar
Luna Lovegood!
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It looks like Kim K accidentally got her head chopped off, and now it's re-growing slowly.

ladydelynn avatar
LadyDelynn
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't 'get' why so many people want a barbie size head on a human body?

kjorn avatar
kjorn
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

even the playmobil figurine look more human than that!

spacebunny2016 avatar
Evelína Zlá
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She reminds me of those lil head things from the Super Mario Bros. (1993) movie....

enamelcamel avatar
Enamelcamel
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did she remove the lower half of her head ... and insert it directly into her chest? Her head is literally HALF THE SIZE of that left boob!

toniconvens avatar
Toni Convens
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She is in a museum, maybe this is an exhibit about shrunken heads in the Amazone.

lunanik avatar
Nikki Sevven
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She's the opposite of a T. Rex...she has a little head and big arms.

corinemcmillan avatar
Artoonist Corine
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of the head-shrinking scene in the end of Beetlejuice.....

historymaster102710 avatar
°-. *white~wolf* .-°
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Your head is so small. I--I'm just annoyed right now. Literally, like... yeah.

lynnnoyes avatar
elfin
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really hope that this photo is far from reality. Otherwise she's ready to explode like a dead whale on the beach.

dandeleo avatar
Donna Johansen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Perhaps the boyfriend said he'd 'like a little head' and she went and got this done

marcoconti avatar
Marco Conti
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never believed the "ancient Astronauts" BS, but I may reconsider...

tiffinyseemann avatar
Tiffiny
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This reminds me of the goombas in that one Super Mario movie

renatadavies_1 avatar
Renata Davies
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

do you know that alien dude in the first men in black who could re-grow his head but its really small at first? thats her head

edmark2 avatar
Ed Martin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They tried to look like Angelina Jolie and it failed & looking like freaks

melanie_chaffin avatar
Mel
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Has to be a trump supporter with that little head and brain.

mariaelmbaek avatar
Just me
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wow...She looks like the Goombas in the Super Mario movie.

mnveltri2 avatar
Mary Veltri
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why would you wear sunglasses in a measeum? Don't you kinda wanna see the stuff?

hallabaloo_meow avatar
Let’s All Just Try And Be Decent
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm trying to figure out, if you cover over the gigantic boobs, does her head still look so tiny? It does... but not AS tiny. Who would have thought that a side effect of an extreme boob job would be that it made your head look tiny?

giedrius_whatever avatar
Gi Ku
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

actually some korean instagramers do like this look. they do like lots plastic surgeries to have more like western countries but in really they look like over cooked barbies, long necks, tiny faces, large breast long legs and wide hips...

tiheyo6831 avatar
Doob
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Oh yes", said the museum tour guide, "and this is one of our very ugly mannequin displays."

willowsweet_1 avatar
HooowlAtTheMoon
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Am I the only one who sees a face on her bag and can't stop laughing?

samantharobinson_1 avatar
Samantha Robinson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She just got the latest cosmetic trend done, it's called baby head!

julieoceans avatar
Julie Harden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Her boob is bigger than her head. Lol. I bet her hand is bigger than her head as well.

sofacushionfort avatar
sofacushionfort
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They gave the winged bull man five legs. This Instagram fakery goes back farther than we’d realized!

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Interestingly, being reminded that social media is fake can also 'fill' us. In a 2019 study, researchers decided to investigate the effect 'Instagram vs. Reality' pictures (the ones containing side-by-side photographs of the same woman, one an idealized depiction and the other a more natural depiction) have on body image.

They got together 305 women aged between 18 and 30 years, the largest demographic group of Instagram users. The sample had a mean age of 25.34 years, and their mean body mass index (BMI) was 26.98, indicating a slightly overweight sample. The majority of participants identified as Caucasian (69.2%), followed by Latino/Hispanic (11.8%), African American (10.2%), Asian (6.6%), Native American (0.3%), and 'other' (2.0%). The participants were randomly assigned to view one of three sets of Instagram images over a period of time: 'Instagram vs. reality" images, the 'ideal' side alone, or the 'real' side alone.

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"[The study found that] viewing the 'Instagram vs. reality' and real images resulted in decreased body dissatisfaction relative to the ideal images," the researchers wrote. "Furthermore, the detrimental effects of appearance comparison were much less marked for the 'Instagram vs. reality' and real images than for the ideal images. It was concluded that 'Instagram vs. reality' and real posts have the potential to bolster women's body satisfaction, but more research is needed to assess their longer-term impact."

Siobhan Ward said that we need to become aware of what we believe we are getting from the Internet in order to start resisting its temptation. "By understanding why [we] turn to the Internet, [we] can start to think about healthier ways to meet these needs."

#10

Nearly Had A Heart Attack When I Opened Tinder This Morning

Nearly Had A Heart Attack When I Opened Tinder This Morning

reknae Report

#11

I Was Shopping Online When I Saw This Dress... And Those Shoulders...

I Was Shopping Online When I Saw This Dress... And Those Shoulders...

saithesti Report

#12

Faking Swimming With Sharks Is A Thing Now I Guess, By Blatantly Stealing A Background Image From The Internet

Faking Swimming With Sharks Is A Thing Now I Guess, By Blatantly Stealing A Background Image From The Internet

ElonTheRocketEngine Report

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#14

Ok These Are Getting Ridiculous...

Ok These Are Getting Ridiculous...

_IssaViolin_ Report

#15

That Is One Giant Hand

That Is One Giant Hand

Leathermoss Report

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h_selvakumar avatar
Sel Bonda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Bold lady! Seems the hand has been pretty busy with the works.

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#16

I Can’t Decide If This Is A Joke Or Someone Actually Thinks This Is Believable...

I Can’t Decide If This Is A Joke Or Someone Actually Thinks This Is Believable...

sierradwilson Report

#17

Seems Legit (It's A Real Profile From Facebook)

Seems Legit (It's A Real Profile From Facebook)

CyberBuda Report

#18

Found In The Wild - Why Would Anyone Even Post This?

Found In The Wild - Why Would Anyone Even Post This?

Mistresskatiafoxx Report

#19

Chin To Neck Transition?

Chin To Neck Transition?

Tiffbu00 Report

#20

Found On Amazon Reviews

Found On Amazon Reviews

twittlez Report

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#24

I Can’t Look Away... The Eyes, The Teeth... So Bright. The Mouth... So Large

I Can’t Look Away... The Eyes, The Teeth... So Bright. The Mouth... So Large

TheMiddleE Report

#25

This Is Not How Real Hair Looks Like Bro

This Is Not How Real Hair Looks Like Bro

Kingmenudo Report

#28

Same Girl, 10 Year Difference (In Photoshop Skills)

Same Girl, 10 Year Difference (In Photoshop Skills)

UselessBrakes Report

#29

Ahh, They Definitely Look Alike Alright

Ahh, They Definitely Look Alike Alright

"Anyone think my mom and I look alike!? I'm 22 she's 44!"

ennortz Report

#30

Was Reading An Article About Photoshop Fails On Instagram. This Was One Of The Examples

Was Reading An Article About Photoshop Fails On Instagram. This Was One Of The Examples

NoButterOnMyBread Report

Note: this post originally had 84 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.