Reverse Selfie: Dove highlights how digital distortion impacts the self-esteem of teen girls

New Dove campaign depicts the process of a teen girl clicking, editing and sharing a selfie online for gratification, in reverse order.

There is an app available for every possible need-gap, making lives easier for people. Several of these are helping young persons share their creativity with the world. In a few taps, one can edit aspects of an image, changing it as per their aesthetic sensibilities. However, the pitfall of these innovations is the impact these apps have on teen girls and how it makes them chase certain ideal attributes. This is something Dove has tried to address in their new campaign created by Ogilvy — Reverse Selfie.

According to research carried out by Dove surveying 556 girls between the ages of 10-17, 80% of girls said they had already applied a filter or used a retouching app to change the way they look in their photos by age 13. 77% had tried to change or hide at least one body part/feature before posting a photo of themselves.

Also Read: Dove campaigns that encourage women to choose beautiful

“Now that social media has grown to be part of our everyday lives, digital distortion is happening more than ever and tools once only available to the professionals can be accessed by young girls at the touch of a button without regulation,” says Alessandro Manfredi, Executive Vice President of Dove.

“Girls all around the world have begun to feel the pressure to edit and distort how they look, to create something ‘perfect’, which cannot be achieved in real life,” reflects Alessandro. “After a year of increased screen-time, there’s never been a more important time to act.”

With this campaign, Dove is also amplifying a Confidence Kit with resources for parents and teachers to address issues of body positivity when talking to teenage girls. Attempts are being made to understand triggers and the impact such images can have on young minds.