How does my bum look?

Images online have always been an area of creativity, especially when it came to the romance sites and pictures of people 20 years ago, after strenuous gym workouts and days at the beach were prevalent. The problem with sites like RSVP and others was the chance you might actually meet your date and disappointment in the looks department was the first indication that love would not blossom. That eventual meeting to find the truth about the looks is not something as prevalent in other parts of the online community and social channels like Facebook give greater meaning to the image conscious as they strive for the Vogue look.

Seems Gen Y men especially are prone to more preening and grooming online than women. A study conducted in July surveyed adults between 22 and 40 and tried to work out if social media affected people’s superficiality. The study conducted by Carlton United Breweries (Huh?) found that nearly 25% of Gen Y males actively finesse their online profiles compared with only 14% of women in the same age bracket. The men were more likely to have photo enhanced pictures and to un-tag themselves from unflattering photos on other sites, all the while contending it made for better self image and brought out the best in them.

Okay, so if I enhanced my photos on Facebook to look more like George Clooney, the only people who would know are my friends (who would have a chuckle) but the other hundreds of Facebookers, who I never meet with, think I’m handsome and debonair. That only works in a parallel universe where everyone has an avatar but in the real world there is no credibility to be gained by airbrushing.

Social media is the buzz heard round the world at the moment and it’s only going to get noisier as more people join in. The only way to keep your credibility is to show your true self and if you can’t do that, then you need to explore other options (gym, plastic surgery, a new haircut, a stylist, a stand in double) because you will be found out soon enough and laughter and derision is multiplied as it circles the social media globe. Maybe that’s why there are so many dogs, cats and cartoons instead of photos. We haven’t quite got up the nerve to show ourselves.

Now where did I put that jar of theatrical make up?