Show of hands—who here has edited their pictures before uploading them to social media? While I can’t actually see how many people there are, I believe that there must have been at least a few of us raising one of our limbs, even if unwillingly.

That’s because nowadays, it might seem difficult not to edit pictures, bearing in mind the content that’s floating around on the internet. Pictures of models are edited to perfection, even though they do not need to be at all. Pictures of regular people, who’ve worked hard on editing their photos, even though they, too, don’t need to. Images of unattainable beauty standards that seem everchanging—yet omnipresent—so you always have something to overthink regarding your looks or lifestyle. Not to mention, pictures of people’s “perfect” lives that are often only perfect on their social media accounts.

With such pressure, it’s no surprise that many people alter their reality—be it themselves or their environment—before uploading any photographs. But sometimes, they don’t realize when they’ve overdone it.

Talking about the reasons why some people edit their images before posting them on social media, Makana Chock, Professor of Communications at Syracuse University, told Bored Panda that people have a tendency to engage in selective self-presentation. “We choose those aspects of ourselves that we want to share with others. Usually, these tend to be the things that are our best features, or those that help us achieve some goal. This happens in face-to-face interactions but may be particularly evident in social media.

“Social media platforms such as Instagram are inherently visual,” Prof. Chock added. “And the technology allows us to, quite literally, show ourselves in the best light. We can highlight our best aspects and edit out the ones we think don’t flatter us.”

“Another thing to keep in mind is that social media is, well—social,” Prof. Chock continued. “Users are aware of the social norms of the site. Including the social pressure to polish their images and present carefully crafted windows into their lives.

“The difficulty with this is that people tend to engage in a process known as social comparison. Our satisfaction with ourselves, our bodies, our lives, is impacted by our comparisons to others. If we view ourselves as better or on par with comparative others, we’re satisfied. If not, we can become dissatisfied. This can be particularly problematic if our comparative other is unrealistically polished and enhanced.”

“In the past, media researchers found that people, particularly younger girls and an increasing number of adolescent males, became dissatisfied with their appearance when comparing themselves to models or actors in magazines,” Prof. Chock noted.

“To some extent, however, this comparison process could be moderated by an awareness that these were celebrities with access to a range of beauty aids. With social media, comparative others may be viewed as peers, people like yourself. This could potentially enhance appearance dissatisfaction. ‘If they can look like that, why can’t I?’”

A study in 2021 found that an astonishing 90% of young women reported using a filter or editing their photos before posting them online. They reportedly do it to even out their skin tone, brighten or bronze it, adjust the shape of their jaw or nose, shave off weight, or whiten their teeth.

To make matters worse, the women also reported being constantly exposed to advertisements or push notifications for all sorts of cosmetic procedures, including teeth whitening, lip fillers, and cosmetic surgery.

The author of the aforementioned study, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at City, University of London, Dr. Rosalind Gill, pointed out that young people were overwhelmed by images that were “too perfect.”

Moreover, “Women of colour, disabled women and gender nonconforming folk told me they rarely see anyone like them in the media,” she was cited as saying by Science Daily.

According to Prof. Rosalind Gill, "Posting on social media can produce the intense pleasure of 'getting likes' and appreciative attention, but it is also a source of huge anxiety for most young women.” She added that the latter had told her time and again that they felt judged.

Bearing in mind that people spend close to 2,5 hours a day on social media, it’s safe to assume that while many upload images of themselves, arguably even more spend their time looking at—and likely, judging what—others post.

Whether or not you spend more than 2 hours on social media, chances are you can’t imagine life without access to one platform or another. Nowadays, few people probably can, as the number of individuals on social media has grown steadily over the past seven years, Statista reports.

This source revealed that back in 2017, the number of social media users worldwide was roughly 2.73 billion, but it has since nearly doubled, reaching 5.17 billion in 2024. It is projected to increase to more than six billion in 2028.

While some of us judge people’s online behaviors or their pictures without even realizing it, some do it consciously. Surprisingly, they choose to do it and focus their energy and attention on someone they don’t feel fond of. Known as ‘hate following,’ the phenomenon refers to internet users’ eagerness to follow the online activity of people they dislike.

Discussing this relatively new phenomenon in a piece for The Independent, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary British History at Newcastle University, Dr. Martin Farr, pointed out that it actually predates the age of social media. But social media and the devices stuck to our hands nearly 24/7 make directing hate at people easier than ever.

“In the 21st century, you can keep a watchful eye on people in a love-to-hate way, silently participating in this act and rejoicing in whatever aspect it is about them that you dislike, with no consequences or repercussions whatsoever. It makes hate following an extremely desirable, and very easy, outlet,” Dr. Farr told The Independent.

Some suggest that the phenomenon of hate-following people on social media is linked to another phenomenon—schadenfreude, which refers to the pleasure that stems from someone else’s misfortune.

In a piece for BBC Science Focus, a neuroscientist, author, comedian, and “all-round ‘science guy’,”—as he presents himself—Dean Burnett suggested that schadenfreude is a rather common emotion; one that derives from “deeply ingrained processes that the human brain spent millions of years evolving.”

One of the things people’s brains seemingly focused most on during the millions of years is socializing and—more importantly—social status. According to Burnett, humans are “instinctively aware of the general hierarchy, the pecking order, and our standing within it.” And since raising one’s social status is something that’s linked to an influx of positive emotions, people seek a higher-ranking position in said pecking order, which can happen when someone else falls lower.

“When we see someone mess up in ways that cause them to lose face, and thus lose social status, we can feel a burst of satisfaction as our own status is raised, at no cost to us. And so, schadenfreude,” Burnett wrote.

Whether it’s aiming for a higher spot in the pecking order, feeling the pressure of social media influencers, having advertising of beauty procedures shoved down your throat, or other reasons, many people try to edit their pictures to perfection. But, as you can clearly see on this list, they are not always successful at the task. On the contrary, they often make the picture look worse than the original.

But if, for some reason, browsing through over-edited pictures is something you enjoy, you might be happy to learn that this is not the only list depicting such wonders we have in store for you. For more of this kind of content, check out this edition of Instagram vs. Reality, or browse some hilarious Photoshop fails here.