Could Google Plus have accidentally created a tool for Catfished men (and women)?
Last week, Make up Artist Melissa Murphy posted in Reddit this above Before-After photo collage of a woman who had undergone a complete transformation from average looking to goddess using only make up. The post had the Reddit dudes going off about how women trick them.
Naturally a feminist writer on Jezebel jumped in on it, calling out the complaining guys.
That’s makeup.
But how about for the Catfish’d (named for the show about people who get into long term relationships with people they meet online by pretending to be and look like something else). And what about those flattering, and not really current or accurate photos people upload on dating websites to inaccurately present a falsehood of their true appearance?
When women (and men) aren’t using make up to appear more attractive than they really are, some are playing with camera angles and photo filters that many social media sites offer. Instagram photo sharing social media site started it all and now Facebook and Twitter‘s mobile app versions let users edit the photo features and add image filters. The filters help users hide blemishes and flaws.
Tonight, I discovered on accident that Google plus’s enhancement tools can actually help guys (and girls) uncover a person’s true beauty, if hidden using online enhancement tools.
This summer, G+ unveiled its own photo features and tools.
In the lightbox, if they click on “More” then “Auto Enhance”, the photo will auto enhance. An indicator in the upper left hand corner when you’re scrolling over the picture says “ENHANCED”
But if users click and hold, they’ll get to quickly see the original photograph. They can revert back to the original by hovering over the enhanced indicator and choosing “Revert” or deselecting Auto Enhance from the More dropdown menu.
The purpose was to let the person who uploaded an image revert back to its original format in case s/he wanted to change the look of the image.
But the feature also lets users see if an image was enhanced that someone else enhanced using other tools – I mean not in Google plus.
I had created and enhanced a landscape photo in Microsoft Office in one computer but when I uploaded it and looked at it onto Google+ in another computer, I saw it marked with the dreaded words “ENHANCED”
GaSP!!
I hovered over the button and was asked if I wanted to see what the original pre-enhanced version looked like. EEEEK!!!!
I’m certain when G+ created the feature, it was NOT meant to be used to bust a person who has sent someone else an enhanced photo to look better than they really look!
All I know is I was quite upset to see that anyone could know that the landscape shot that came out a bit dark that I had enhanced using Microsoft Office tools could be discovered.
It’s the equivalent of the “track changes” on a word document.
By now, most savvy business people know to remove the possibility for someone who sees your document to go back in time and see the edits you made to the document, you have to create a clean new document.
With this feature, it seems to only work on clean images that have not gone through another platform before uploaded e.g. Instagram photos seem safe…for now!
heh heh!
ps.:How about the ladies of Reddit starting a group/thread: Pretty girls/Ugly faces? Is this Korean trend the opposite of the make up transformations?
Jay Jay Ghatt is also editor at Techyaya.com, founder of the JayJayGhatt.com and JayJayGhatt.com where she teaches online creators how to navigate digital entrepreneurship and offers Do-It-For-You Blogging Service. She manages her lifestyle sites BellyitchBlog, Jenebaspeaks and JJBraids.com and is the founder of BlackWomenTech.com 200 Black Women in Tech On Twitter. Her biz podcast 10 Minute Podcast is available on iTunes and Player.fm. Follow her on Twitter at @Jenebaspeaks. Buy her templates over at her legal and business templates on Etsy shop!
