30 Times People Uncovered How Fake Some Pics On Instagram Are And Just Had To Share (New Pics)
Sometimes, it’s easy for us to forget that social media isn’t the same as reality. But it’s incredibly important to remember that what we see on our screens can often be an altered, upgraded, and airbrushed version of what’s really out there. If we realize it’s partly an illusion, we won’t feel so bad when we compare our lives to those of seemingly ‘perfect’ Instagram influencers. However, some people take photo editing several steps too far.
The “Instagram Reality” subreddit is dedicated to showing how heavily some people facetune their pictures before putting them up on social media. Whether it’s inspired by people’s insecurity or narcissism is difficult to tell. But we collected some of the best examples of fake people pics from the subreddit for you to enjoy.
So scroll down, upvote your fave Instagram photos, and leave a comment below to let us know which images you thought were the most shocking, and why you think these people tend to use too much Photoshop. Also, check out Bored Panda’s previous posts about expectations vs. reality right here, here, here, as well as here. Scroll down for our interview with the "Instagram Reality" moderators about their community and about the culture of excessive photoshop, and be sure to visit their subreddit as well.
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Happy Holidays!
A Body Builder I Have Since Unfollowed
Reflections Dont Lie
Bored Panda talked to the "Instagram Reality" moderators about why some people go overboard with photoshopping their pictures. Here's what they had to say: "Insecurity, envy, money. Take the girl sitting next to you in Statistics who's scrolling through her latest selfie shoot and disappointingly thinks to herself, "[Damn], is that a pimple? I can't let people see that, it's embarrassing." She casually opens up FaceTune, smooths out the pimple, and boom—now there's an image she feels comfortable sharing online. Unbeknownst to her, there's a seed that's been planted in her mind now that it's as easy as using this app to change anything she finds unattractive about herself at any time, then it snowballs; from taking in just a bit of your tummy for a more slender silhouette until eventually she's landed on a waist the size of her neck."
"The light improvements are so gradual over time, she stops noticing that the waist she's creating is 1.) of course, not hers 2.) (as we often see on Instagram Reality), anatomically impossible, and 3.) that she's now set an expectation subconsciously for herself (and outwardly for anyone following her) that she needs to keep up this flawless appearance; which means sticking to the edits she's made for every photo she posts in the future. What she doesn't realize is in this process, she's simultaneously creating and constantly reinforcing her own insecurities."
What The Hell
When U Ordered It vs. When It Arrived
Big Difference Between The Photos Of Her At The Event And The One On Her Instagram...
Plastic fantastic on the left, a gorgeous, real woman with real-life experience on the right.
We were also interested to know the subreddit mods' opinion about why some people are scared of presenting themselves as they truly are. "Everyone wants to be loved and desired, everyone wants to feel that they belong. The harsh, scary truth of the matter for anyone is that the more you resemble what people around you consider universally attractive, the more likely you are to have access to those things in your life. So, you begin to think, "Well, what do I need to change about myself to fit in? How do I become more attractive?" Based on what magazine covers and many an Instagram Explore page shows you, that image is a tall, long-haired, fair skinned woman with smooth skin, a slim yet hourglass figure—oh, and don't forget, the perfect butt. In comes photo editing apps, offering you the chance to finally be her. Even if it's only online."
Legend
Yeah, No
When One Right Hand Isn’t Enough...
"Instagram Reality" moderators told us that the community greatly supports inclusivity: "The Instagram Reality team is a huge supporter of inclusivity. All races, body types and genders need to be fairly represented in the media. Sanity Sunday was created as a day for our subscribers to share an ad (or influencer) they've seen which support that idea as well. In the long run, the only way to reduce our obsession with self-image is to normalize those we see in the media; not just celebrating how they look, but who they are as a person."
The "Instagram Reality" subreddit was created just under two years ago. "u/Zaza9000 began to notice IG models who looked insanely different in real life. She wanted to create a platform that exposed the fakeness to people who were being fooled."
I Don’t Know Where To Start ...
Those Abs Were Made In Ms Paint
He Colored His Eyes Over His Glasses Frames
It’s very easy to feel insecure in the information age. Every day, we’re bombarded by images of beautiful, successful, healthy, wealthy individuals. While this inspires some of us to aim for greatness, others can feel insecure because they realize the huge gap between their dream lives, and where they currently are.
Melody Lyons explains that having grown up in the United States, she was raised to be dissatisfied with the way she looked, which meant she felt ashamed of herself. However, she still advocates not using photo-editing apps or keeping the editing to a minimum: say, for removing a big red spot that would simply ruin the pic.
But according to her, if you start radically changing who you are in photos, you start believing that there’s something wrong with you. And that just increases any feelings of insecurity you already had. In other words—the less photoshopping you do, the more comfortable you feel being yourself. After all, nobody is perfect and never will be. Even models think they eyelashes/jawline/pinkies could look better.
I’m Speechless
Shes Not Fooling Anyone With That Steering Wheel
*gasp*
Also, the more people there are out there who photoshop their pictures, the stronger the culture of ‘perfect’ Instagram pics. This means that there are even more individuals who feel insecure because they have to compare themselves to endless masses of photo-edited pictures.
Meanwhile, Michelle Linker told The Guardian that the pressures of social media are very real. “People are publicizing usually something really cool or fun that they’re doing, or at least they make it appear that way. I absolutely feel insecure.”
She continued: “I do feel a pressure to look particularly good. I would never post a photo that wasn’t flattering of me. I feel anxiety over how many likes I get after I post a picture. If I get two likes, I feel like, what’s wrong with me? Some people judge Instagram by deleting photos that don’t get enough likes. I wouldn’t do that, but I would definitely second-guess my intentions with posting them.”
... She Very Obviously Was Not In This Photo Before She Photoshopped Herself In
Most Severe Case I’ve Ever Seen Tbh
Whats The Point Of Photoshopping A Starbucks Logo On Your Cup..? Had A Good Laugh Bc Of It
Do you photoshop your pictures, dear readers? Have you ever been in a situation where you post a photo and constantly check to see how many likes it got? Share your experience with everyone in the comments.
The Difference Is Day And Night, Literally
I Love Playing “Find The Distorted Background” Game With Everything She Posts
Mua Posts Christmas Inspired Look, Flat Out Denies It's Photoshopped In The Comments
Its not photoshop if you print it out. Put makeup on the photo and than take a picture of it
No Way Her Waist Is Real, That Shadow Has A Different Angle
Forgot To Edit The Mirror
Jesus Christ, She Even Smoothed Over Her Tongue
“Ugly Sweater Dinner Date! ” Dear God... I Didn’t Need To Sleep Tonight Anyway
Mom Take Me Home I’m Scared
I think this might be apart of one of those trends where you make it look like that on purpose? Like, I've seen 'eye tutorials' on youtube where people purposely try to make their eyes look like that. Sorry if I'm wrong.
Same Girl I Posted Before, She’s Actually Nearly At 2 Million Followers And Will Block Anyone Who Claims Photoshop
Am I Insane Or Did He Photoshop The Exact Same Face Onto Two Different Photos
I thought that Photoshop was supposed to make you look good, not scary af.
I'm Speechless
Very Interesting Proportions
Now We Have 3 Of Them
"Unedited"
When You Forget To Colour Saturate Your Reflection
Instagram Post vs. Youtube Video
Why? Just why?! She should embrace who she is, she might be chubbier in the youtube, but she looks better.
Weird European Door.
Makeup Artist's Instagram Pic Compared With The Original. Subtle But Powerful Fakery
This Stuff Makes Me Sad On So Many Levels
I Thought Her Photo Was Ironic
I Think She Still Looks Perfectly Fine On The Right But I Didn't Expect Her Waist To Be Normal Sized Because You Only Get To See Altered Pictures Or Pictures Of Her In Corsets
Her waist is normal sized in the picture on the right because that’s how someone with large hips and bust is proportioned by Mother Nature, not Spanx/corsets/plastic surgery.
O No Hunny, Wat Is U Doin
When The Lighting Hits You Just Right In A Family Photo
Oops, Someone Forgot Insta Stories Share The Filter Name
I Can’t Point Out A Single Feature That Looks The Same
Imagine Being A Celebrity With 55m Followers And Expecting No One To Notice The Curtain Curving
Honestly, Who Does She Think She’s Fooling
The Dog's Legs
This One Is Really Interesting To Me, Why Would You Edit Away The Line That Separates Your Lips?
Fillers Don't Always Photograph Well!
When You Visit Greece & Suddenly Become Black (Girl Is On The Right In The First Photo)
We Should Now Be Self Conscious About Literally Any Nose Shape. The Look Of 2020 Is Voldemort. This Is Your Memo
Where Do I Even Start.....?
Most Of These Celeb Makeup Only Look Good With Editing
This Is A Hundred Percent Presented As Reality. Her Legs Are Broken In Six Places And Her Butt Is Sixteen Miles Wide And Long. And She Helped Out Her Friend Too
Internal Organs? Never Heard Of Em
UK Apprentice Candidates. Left His Insta. Right Hers
Who You Trynna Fool
The Video Game Character Look Going On
Knuckles And Skin Wrinkles Are So 2018
Blurring/Smoothing Your Ear. Your. Fucking. Ear
Y’all... I Don’t Know What’s Worse. The Lash Extensions Or The Blurring
I’m All About That Microsoft Paint Life Yuh Yuh
Outrageous Construction Work
Instagram vs. Reality
She Has Great Body Already
What Even Is Skin Texture?
Apparently It’s A Thing Now For Designers To Edit Their Dress Forms. This Is Another Insta Fashion Designer
Are Noses Really Necessary?
Exposed By A Round Earring
Obvious Wobbly Trees And Weird Railing On The Right Side. I Don't Know Why She Keeps Doing This
Never Thought I’d Come Across Something Like This In Real Life
Self-Upload vs. Tagged
She Literally Photoshopped My Brothers Abs Onto Her
Instagram (Top) Versus TV (Bottom)
Instagram vs. Reality. (Bonus: She Preaches Body Positivity.)
Left Is From Celeb News Account, Right Is From Her Ig
Photo And Thumbnail Uploaded By Guy vs. Girl In Her Usual Videos.
Where Are Her Knuckles?
Does This Include Photoshop Lessons?
Size Matters Teehee
Jeez.... first off, who does this? Why does anyone care about that? Like honestly, the art is in the face and body :(
Hiring Models Off Instagram Can Be Surprising
The Alien Look Has Been Trending For A While Now
I’m Not Even Sure What To Say About This One. Found On Ig
That’s not photoshop. She has just tried to contour and it’s gone very badly. The darkness on her forehead carries down onto her nose, and she did her cheeks too. But if you look, the paler parts of her face are her natural colour, and you can see the rest of her nose. Just a make up fail :/ still ridiculous though and i’m sure she looks far better as she is with no heavy contouring.
That's Not Face Correction, That's Face Transplantation
I Wonder How She Has Meet-UPS. Over A Million Followers, Over A Million Unrealistic Expectations
Insta Wigs And Makeup Doesn’t Always Translate Publicly. She Has Almost 6 Million Followers
6 million followers - that's a seriously disturbing number to be projecting fake images to! I wonder how many of them are impressionable young girls
Hard To Believe That’s The Same Person
The Left Photo Is Taken From A Video Featured In A British Newspaper Report Of Her Admitting To Never Having Tried Skinnycoffee, Even Though She Advertises It On Her Instagram Page As The Key To Her Two-Stone Weight Loss.
He Forgot To Delete The Original After Uploading The Edit 😑
Just... Why?!
Instagram vs. A Recent Video
All Her Instagram Pictures Are Filtered To Death
But she's so adorable in the 2nd one - looks like Phoebe Cates way back when.
Some Else's Page vs. Her Own Page
Tagged Picture vs. The Picture You Post
Million Dollar Matchmaker... Who Are You Trying To Fool?
A Youtuber I Used To Follow Until She Started Posting These Pictures On Instagram. Look At The Shadow...
That is an oblique shadow cast on a curved surface. I'll give a pass on this one.
Can we please find a way to block people on here? BrendaGames is just..
Load More Replies...I refuse to believe any of these people would willingly photoshop their posts this much. They must be aliens trying to take over the world. I mean, LOOK AT THOSE NOSES.
welcome to dismomorphya, the magical word to convertibles for cheap surgeons.
Load More Replies...Why do people want others to think that they actually look like some of these? Are there truly "followers" who believe it is real?
There are people who believe the earth is flat, so...
Load More Replies...Can we please find a way to block people on here? BrendaGames is just..
Load More Replies...I refuse to believe any of these people would willingly photoshop their posts this much. They must be aliens trying to take over the world. I mean, LOOK AT THOSE NOSES.
welcome to dismomorphya, the magical word to convertibles for cheap surgeons.
Load More Replies...Why do people want others to think that they actually look like some of these? Are there truly "followers" who believe it is real?
There are people who believe the earth is flat, so...
Load More Replies...