Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, and it is true with most photo editing apps today. It is as easy as going to your app store and finding a highly rated editing app. From there, people can change anything about their appearance in the photo or the environment around them.

Whether it be adding effects or filters, many view it as necessary to get the picture they feel comfortable posting to their social media. Hell, I even used to have an editing app, until I realized the toxic culture that comes with it.

Picture a chubby little freshman in high school, insecure about every little thing and wanted to appear 'normal'. She would take hundreds of pictures, edit them, and post only one she deem pretty enough to get a few likes. She hated doing this because it took such a long time and she didn't get any validation after the fact.

Posting unrealistic pictures can damage someones perception of you and your life. However, I understand entirely why many teens and even adults do it. We crave the life we see on social media and want to replicate what the person we admire is doing. Editing our photos is the first step into gaining people who like to see your content, and some even hope to become famous off of it. Although, many people do it for their friends or the people they like.

Some girls are insecure and need to 'fix' themselves by applying curves to their bodies or minimizing their stomachs, arms, or thighs. Changing those physical aspects can make people think you are something other than you truly are. It warps the image into something way different and if a person posted a before and after of the editing process, you can see the changes they made happen before your eyes.

After using the app for so long, I knew that if I didn't stop, my body dis-morphia would go a distance I could not recover from. Even as I say this, I know not all are affected and still use it just to look good. But when you think about the people following those who are using editing, it can make the followers want to do it as well. What if some of those people had serious issues with how they look? They can change the way they look on social media, but it does not change the way you look in real life.

This can turn into a toxic environment where the genuineness is lost and you cannot control yourself anymore. It makes me so sad to see women and men using these practices because I know some of them hate the way they look and want to change themselves. So while I understand why people use these apps, I cannot get behind them anymore and support something that can damage a persons mental health and perception of themselves.

Next time you are using an editing app, please remember, you are better than you think you are. Don't let society and social media tell you otherwise; loving yourself is hard, but you won't make it better by changing the way you look online and not see those changes in reality.