CLICK2SKILL • LIVE ONLINE

Filters have made it impossible to know who is real anymore. And I want to be honest about how I see this. You scroll through TikTok or Instagram and everyone looks flawless. Perfect skin. Lighter complexion. Features adjusted. Then you meet the same person in real life and you are genuinely shocked, because that is not who you were looking at online. That gap is deceit, whether we want to call it that or not. I personally avoid filters. I am a dark skinned man. I have melanin like any other African. That is what I show, because that is what I am. But I keep noticing people who cannot post anything without adjusting themselves first. Every single video. Every single photo. Even in professional photoshoots, someone is under full makeup and heavy editing, and people assume that is how they naturally look. You see it on LinkedIn. You see it on Facebook. And in person it is a completely different human being. And here is my honest opinion about what is really happening. Constant filtering is often a sign of low self esteem. Not vanity. Insecurity. It says you do not fully accept how you look, so you present a corrected version instead. That is a heavy thing to live with, because now you are managing an image that you cannot maintain in real life. I am not telling anyone what to do. Continue using your filters if you want. That is your face and your choice. But understand what it costs. You are teaching people, and yourself, that the real version is not acceptable. And when someone finally meets you, that gap does the talking. Be comfortable in your own skin. Show up as you are. There is real freedom in that. — Elvis W.