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The key takeaway here isn't that "Instagram face" exists or what it looks like, but that it's a product of two factors: the emergence of less invasive plastic s
by smacktoward 7y ago
The key takeaway here isn't that "Instagram face" exists or what it looks like, but that it's a product of two factors: the emergence of less invasive plastic surgery techniques, and of software specifically dedicated to producing these faces. This being HN, the existence of the software is the really interesting bit.
It's called FaceTune:
> FaceTune, which was released in 2013 and promises to help you “wow your friends with every selfie,” enables even more precision... “I think ninety-five per cent of the most-followed people on Instagram use FaceTune, easily,” Smith told me.
It's a phone app. More information is available here: https://www.facetuneapp.com/ https://www.facetuneapp.com/
Click the "watch video" link on that homepage to see a good visual example of what the software can do. (Warning in advance, the video has an obnoxious, loud techno soundtrack. Mute the tab before you hit play.)
- nostromo 7y agoMy favorite FaceTune example: https://www.instagram.com/p/BmnSLiIF-Rl/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BmnSLiIF-Rl/
- mixmastamyk 7y agoIn a few words, wrinkles have been excessively blurred out. Newt looks like a big fat baby Huey.
- seppin 7y agoAlso faces squished or am I imagining that?
- seppin 7y agoOh that looks awful
- guelo 7y agoWarning: if you click that link on some browsers it will remove your back button history by opening a new tab and killing the previous one. Instagram is aggresively user-hostile and if you work there you should feel bad.
- SwiftyBug 7y agoThis is disgusting.
- creddit 7y agoAnd in fact not even true: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21778168 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21778168
- Shish2k 7y agoI work there and I would feel bad if I could repro that issue, but it seems like a totally normal link for me, having checked chrome, firefox, and safari :S On mobile, clicking that link opens up the mobile app (which sends the browser with history into the background), but I assume that can't be what you're talking about...?
- guelo 7y agoOk I figured it out, it's Mozilla's Facebook Container plugin. Sorry HN doesn't let me delete the comment any more. This one is not your company's fault, though I still think you should feel bad.
- sk0g 7y agoThis is so weirdly hostile. You essentially chose to have that problem, and yet you're blaming individuals in a company on a personal level? What...
- austhrow743 7y agoThey didn't say the person should still feel bad for the bug. If I had to take a stab I'd say it's because they work for facebook. A company many people find to be unethical.
- sk0g 7y ago
- TurkishPoptart 7y agoThis is beyond gross. This is Gingrich-gross.
- CraneWorm 7y agoDirect image link for the no-js crowd?
- filoleg 7y agoI haven't looked into how instagram hosts the images (had to look in source of the page to find the link, as it doesn't allow to just direct link to it normally), so please let me know in the comments if the link expired/not working anymore. As of now, it works, and I checked that it works in a private chrome tab as well, no login needed. https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/e35/38713552_1053267414827345_5266901198035746816_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=105&_nc_ohc=lay0jd5jGZIAX-L4HLa&oh=c70e1af46c025d88b5d1a6ece2792ef6&oe=5E7CA872 https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/e35/3... P.S. Interestingly enough, if you remove the query string from that URL, the link refuses to work and displays a "bad timestamp" error. Which is what made me guess they employ some expiring timestamp hash in query strings for image URLs.
- oliv__ 7y ago> I think ninety-five per cent of the most-followed people on Instagram use FaceTune, easily,” Smith told me. Whenever things like this app reveal themselves to me, I feel so naive for not realizing that they even existed or that people would actually use such things. Man I live in my own bubble...
- Spivak 7y agoI mean the only thing that’s actually different is that there’s a tool that can do the thing that professional photographers do(-ish). The tools are approaching real PS experience where before canned photo enhancing software was a lot more limited. But it’s not new that they’re ragingly popular.
- harryf 7y agoThink there’s a third underlying factor which is the addictiveness of Instagram. That Instagram becomes so important in your life that you end up changing your body for likes. That’s a terrible tragedy. You might argue that some are making a living of Instagram as influences but that’s a small percent; many more will be doing it for a desperate need for validation.
- anon9001 7y agoThe influencers start doing it because of a desperate need for validation too. When they get paid, they feel validated.
- novok 7y agoSo facetune is photoshopping magazine images of models given to the masses?
- Sohcahtoa82 7y agoYeah, but it's done poorly and is painfully obvious.