Social media is, by nature, a competition. Who looks the prettiest, who’s aged the slowest, who has the nicest vacations, who gyms the hardest, who spoils their kids the most on Christmas day… the list goes on.
Nearly all of us are guilty of manipulating reality somewhat when it comes to posting online. Perhaps we edit a photo to make it more flattering or pretend that something was a lot more enjoyable than it was. But our minor editing skills are nothing compared to the big social media influencers. Just wait until you see these photos!
1. Getting arty
How to make your skin sparkle in a very unnatural way? Take some neon paint and splatter it all over your face. Then grab a backlight that’ll make the paint glow like it’s supposed to. Your selfie game will never be the same again. This guy shows us that something that looks relatively straightforward is actually a lot of work behind the scenes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BscnIZLnMLo/
2. Swinging away
Okay, if we actually looked at this photo with our heads screwed on, we’d take a second to wonder how a swing had ended up in the middle of a road with no trees in the vicinity. But looking at the second photo, we’d take what we saw without questioning the reality. Crazy what a Photoshop expert can do.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUIo0NkjbYI/?utm_source=ig_embed
3. Up (very) close and personal with nature
The shot captured here looks quite magical, though it’s also a little confusing. We can’t work out whether the woman being photographed is going for a “fallen fairy” look or she just fancied a nap mid-shoot. The “reality” shot makes things even more amusing – she’s genuinely made a bed in a giant bush. We can’t knock the photographer, though – it’s a good photo.
Source:
Flickr
4. Vast lake
There’s nothing more special than having a pregnancy photoshoot in a beautiful area of nature – perhaps in front of the sea or beyond a vast lake. But what do you do when the closest you’ve got to the real thing is a puddle? You use the puddle, of course. Kudos to this photographer for his creativity – you’d never guess they were in such an ugly location.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bke9cejHt-Q/?utm_source=ig_embed
5. The universe, right there
To be fair, if you were happy to believe that the woman in the first photo was genuinely hanging out on a rocket with windows, or perhaps a spaceship, you perhaps need to rethink your view of social media entirely. While it definitely looks realistic, it was more a question of what was used for the background – artwork, perhaps? Or Photoshop? Neither; just a big old TV screen.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqT5_n8n0az/
6. Wedding veil help
Looking at the photo on the left, you’d think the couple under the wedding veil had reams of floaty, flowy material to play with. The truth is far from that – the veil is literally the small piece of fabric that’s pinned to the back of the bride’s head. The photographer must have tried this a few times to know it would work.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoPXFvjHv2J/
7. Hanging out at the florists
Buying flowers just for the purpose of taking a few photos is a waste of time. And if you don’t have a significant other who randomly buys you flowers “just because”, it’s time to take things into your own hands. The woman on this shot isn’t in a field full of flowers – she’s just hanging out at the florists. Photographers don’t always have big budgets, you know.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsH7sqjnJKf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
8. The secret to levitation
We’ve seen some photoshoots in our time, but this one raises more questions than most. For instance, who had the idea for a bride in a wedding dress to appear suspended above a small pool of water, and why? At least she’s “floating” on a couple of stools – when we first saw the photo, we thought the chair legs were the arms of a couple of submerged people holding her up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BL58ae-ltcY/?utm_source=ig_embed
9. Reading: reality vs how you feel
You might find yourself so lost in a good book that you often feel like you can relate to the photo on the right more than reality. It was probably obvious that this one is a touch edited, come to think of it. We’re not sure anyone would perch on a rock, suspended above the clouds, and decide now was the time to pull out a book. It’s still pretty cool, though.
Source:
Igor Grushko
10. Hanging baby
Have you ever wondered how some babies manage to sleep so soundly throughout their invasive photoshoots? It’s probably because the photoshoot isn’t actually as invasive as it seems. A trick of perspective makes this babe look as if he’s really being held up by a cloth, but actually, he’s lying snugly on his side against a black background. Cute (and clever).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSgaA-jjMfa/?utm_source=ig_embed
11. Thank you, TV
If you’ve ever shopped for a TV in store, you’ll know that the screens always display something beautiful to prove how high-quality they are. They’re so high-quality, in fact, that you can pose in front of one in full pretense that you’re genuinely at the aquarium, as demonstrated in these photos. You could go around all the TVs and get 10 different shots just in one store. Click through to see the image.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs-KIzBHW_G/
12. Beautiful view
Look, we don’t all have a big blinds selection to choose from when it comes to “staring serenely out of the window” photo ops. But we’d never have guessed that this photo was actually taken in a department store – where the photographer had their pick of four lots of blinds, all on the same platform. Wonder what the store thought about the unconventional promotion?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsAD_NVnID7/
13. Getting the good backlight
Nighttime photos with a good backlight have a mysterious quality that makes them appealing for any wannabe social media influencer. This woman couldn’t find anything more suitable than a Taco Bell sign to sit against, and honestly, unless you scrutinized this photo really close, you’d never guess that she was hanging out alongside menu shots of tacos and quesadillas.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmhvR9fn66X/
14. Midnight snackin’
There are so many photos like this that end up online, and the story never seems to make sense: a model-type young woman seductively eating junk food. In this case, the junk food in question is Frosted Flakes, and it seems this woman’s urge for a midnight snack was so strong that she couldn’t even make it beyond her fridge… but why on earth did she have cereal stored in her fridge? Even the “reality” photo doesn’t give any more clarity to this shot.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqgzLUXn4uc/
15. Studio or shopping?
Where else can you find a whole array of vibrant background colors? You’d never think that this woman was standing in front of a “color gallery” – the section of a DIY store you can visit when choosing paint for your home – but the effect is pretty cool. The photographer hardly needed to edit the lighting, either – it was selling the shot as much as it was selling those paint colors.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br9XeWcHhWH/
16. When the flowers are too far away
If you’re a fan of a pretty floral background, you’ll know that it always seems to be the case that the flowers are too far away for your photo to do them justice. But this guy was determined, and with a couple of friends holding him half-suspended in the bushes, he got the shot he was looking for. It’s a bit like the trust fall, except for much longer.
The only way I could pull these photos off is with a great support system pic.twitter.com/EIlnh88wik
— ɢᴀᴠɪɴ ɢᴀʀᴄɪᴀ (@GavinGarcia12) August 8, 2018
17. Messy set
Clouds? Some kind of ethereal mist/foam combo? Nope, just the inside of a pillow. This is proof that the right lighting really can make a photo. If you took this as a normal shot, it’d be totally obvious that this woman was just lying on a bed of stuffing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsU6MPhHADE/
18. Bush goals
Whenever you see a shot like the one on the left, you always assume the poser is in the middle of a field that just happens to be filled with a beautiful selection of floral bushes. The reality is less exciting, as the photo shows. We have to wonder what passers-by thought when they saw a grown woman sitting in a bush just off the sidewalk – or maybe we’re used to people going to any means to get “the shot” by now.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqwH4skH0xP/
19. Baby photo setup
Newborn babies don’t really need a ginormous background setup, with them being so tiny themselves. This little guy might look like he’s asleep on a bog-standard carpet, but he’s actually lying on a rug half-suspended in the air. There’s no way the photographer can get any unwanted items in the background that way, and they’ve got a lot more control over the lighting.
Source:
Flickr
20. It’s all about perspective
The couple on the right could be anywhere in the world. There’s a kind of mystery to the fact that the man and woman, and their reflections, take up most of this shot. That mystery is inevitably spoiled when you see that they’re just hanging out on a field. At least it’s well-kept.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bhos-6DD02B/?utm_source=ig_embed
21. Backstage of a photo setup
Never would you imagine that so much effort goes into your favorite influencers’ photos. This has probably led you to say things like “being an influencer must be amazing, you get loads of money for nothing”, or “an influencer’s job is so easy, even I could do it”. While you might not technically need to be clever to get famous online, don’t discredit how much work goes into it. It’s certainly not as fun and easy as it looks.
Instagram Vs Reality 🙀🙀🙀 OOOOOMMMMMMGGGGGG!!! I CANNOT believe this!!!!! We hit 1️⃣ MILLION!!!!! I can’t say how grateful I am for the love and support! I owe it to you! Our community and to my family… When I started this page 6 years ago this month, I NEVER imagined this! pic.twitter.com/fB7RBCrkPn
— Trendmood (@Trendmood) July 22, 2018
22. Flex it
If you looked like your best self 24/7, you probably wouldn’t be human. This man is proof that even the most toned of bods only look that way when you suck in the right bits and flex your muscles. When he’s standing in a slouch, he’s got just as much of a belly as the rest of us. We personally think photo 2 would be the more honest option, but social media doesn’t work that way.
Source:
Reddit
23. The hidden process
This is another one of those wtf?? shots that make us wonder what the photographer had in mind in the first place. Our guess is that the subject of the photo was supposed to look as if she’d been standing under a very small waterfall, or perhaps it had rained specifically over her nose. Either way, the “silly” shot that proves the woman is simply standing under a water bottle is a lot more relatable.
Expectation vs Reality
Le secret de certaines photos est parfois tout bête 🤷🏻♀️Instagram : wendyjolivot pic.twitter.com/XFhsapAME3
— Wendy Jolivot (@wendyjolivot) July 2, 2018
24. Troubled pup
Even pets have their “just woke up” face, and let’s be honest, nobody wants to see it. Only a select few family members and friends ever get to see us post-sleep, and it’s probably best it stays that way. But as this fluffy shih tzu proves, if we were all a bit more true to our honest selves, it’d at least give other people a laugh.
Yes, I’m a week late on this trend but better late than never!
Benji on Twitter vs Instagram pic.twitter.com/Gtf9VhpwDL
— Patty Kim (@pattyskim) August 6, 2019
25. More water bottle madness
Here we have a photo of a woman not standing under a water bottle being poured by somebody else, but pouring a water bottle on herself. The mind boggles. Anwyay, fun and candid as the first shot night look, none of your Instagram friends will tell you that it completely ruins your makeup if you’re not wearing something waterproof. Tip for if you ever feel the urge to chuck water on yourself in the future.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzL0kkMIGcy/?utm_source=ig_embed
26. Angles are everything
If you’re sick and tired of seeing your skinny friends posing in front of the mirror at the gym, remember the difference a good angle makes. Nobody has a flat stomach when they’re sitting down, and that’s completely okay. Hats off to this girl for being honest enough to show her followers what she looks like when she’s not posing to make herself look good.
here's my own #instagramvsreality shots. my best angle versus an unflattering position & angle. learning to love my body in all its shapes 💛 pic.twitter.com/0UdoO8V4ZR
— al 🌻 (@aldewsnap) April 14, 2017
27. Taking a nap vs sleeping
People love to share photos of themselves or their significant others “sleeping” on social media, and we’d estimate that 8 out of 10 of them aren’t genuine. How many people do you know who genuinely sleep like little angels? Maybe your toddlers do on occasion, but most of the time, sleeping isn’t attractive. While we might look like the dog on the left when we’re lying down for a nap, we definitely resemble the dog on the right when we’re actually asleep.
instagram vs. twitter pic.twitter.com/Hg8YB9YEWn
— Seasonal Apoplectic Disorder (@NJDG) August 5, 2019
28. How we want the world to look vs how it really looks
This photographer mom or dad raised an important message with their “social media vs reality” shot. Even the most picturesque destinations on earth aren’t always as beautiful as they seem, and unfortunately, most of the time the human race is to blame. Littering is something we can’t get away from, no matter where in the world we may be.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0iLkiLHb9g/?utm_source=ig_embed
29. Even social media food isn’t accurate
Unless you follow someone who’s doing Slimming World, the only photos of food you probably see on social media are the sorts of masterpieces no-one has time to make. Like the acai bowl – who can be bothered to make neat little lines of fruit, nuts and granola atop a bowl of yogurt? Our breakfast looks a lot more like the photo on the right, and so do our friends’. Don’t be fooled.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0WfO5DIVGX/?utm_source=ig_embed
30. Beach lovin’
Whenever you see a photo of someone at the beach, they always look like they’re living their best life. Their caption probably says something like “sun’s out, buns out”, and features them grinning away like they wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. But nobody stops to think about how annoying the beach can be. Sand is uncomfortable to sit on for longer than 10 minutes, the sun gets too hot, and bathing suits never fit properly. We appreciate this woman’s honesty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx-R_tbohd_/?utm_source=ig_embed
31. The deception is real
While your friends might tweak their appearances here and there on basic editing apps, some of social media’s most “beautiful” people actually look completely different from one day to the next. These two pictures show the same girl, and while she looks just as pretty on both photos, the photo on the right is clearly very heavily edited. Nobody’s skin is that flawless. Also, a little cultural appropriation?
Source:
Willoughbeatz/ Reddit
32. Prettified countryside
The scenery on the right already looks like the sort of place we’d want to live – just look at all those rolling-tree topped fields. But here’s proof that we don’t only fine-tune faces on social media. The locals of this area would be perplexed to see what it had been turned into with some heavy editing. It’s pretty, yes, but it looked nice already!
Source:
annodomini/ Reddit
33. Ridiculous Photoshop
A bit of Photoshopping can make a photo look more pleasant, but when it’s on this level of fakeness, it’s actually pretty amusing. Something tells us that nothing about this photo is real. You might be obsessing over her legs right now, but when you take a look at how (badly) photoshopped her waist is, the photo completely loses any credibility. Don’t believe anything you see online, guys.
Source:
runescape_girlfriend/ Reddit
34. That one good shot
Nobody, not even the people who look like models, are one-shot wonders. It takes a good few failures before you get your pose just right. Here’s proof that even the most stunning and staged-looking of shots actually looks pretty silly during set-up – and who wants water in their ear? That’s the reality you don’t see behind the photo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0yyjVxlqd1/?utm_source=ig_embed
35. Poor edit
If you’re going to edit your photos, there are two rules: 1. You have to really know what you’re doing, and 2. You can’t rush. This person edited her face so badly that she looks fake. She should be celebrating her graduation, not obsessing about how she looks in her gown. We’d much prefer to see the unedited version of this photo.
Source:
heydoyouseethat/ Reddit
36. When you don’t get to choose
This might just be a meme of a dog, but it speaks to us on a deep level. If you want an idea of what the most perfect, poised, put-together person on social media really looks like, take a look at their tagged photos. On the photos they don’t get to edit or even choose themselves, they probably look a lot more normal and human. While they may think they look terrible to be seen online, the truth is that none of us look like goddesses, so we may as well boast what we’ve got.
Source:
Runt Of The Web
37. Fake vs reality
And here’s a living example of when somebody gets tagged in a photo compared to when they take, edit and post their own. And guess what? She actually looks much more beautiful (and much more normal) in the photo on the right. People look better when they’re people, and not when their skin has been edited to the point of unreality.
Source:
TeValeMadreWey/ Reddit
38. Unicorn black eye
There are so many incredible makeup artists nowadays, and many take to the internet to showcase their talents. A favorite photo amongst beauty bloggers is the close-up eye makeup shot, which shows a look in incredible detail. But sometimes, as this photo shows, what looks beautiful close-up actually looks a bit weird when the whole face is in shot. Would you go out like this?
39. Ah, motherhood
Don’t be fooled by your friends’ photos of their happy, peaceful little family. We all have bad days – toddler tantrums, shouting matches, smelly accidents and awkward mishaps. But none of those things get posted online. If the photo on the right shows us anything, it’s that children are unpredictable. Maybe it’s time we stopped sugar-coating our lives and documenting them more realistically.
Source:
snlslh/ Reddit
40. More fake scenery
Surely if you were going to prettify a location, you’d choose somewhere known to be ugly, like the alleyway behind your home. But this photoshopped image of a cute little beach town actually bears some similarities to our own personal photo editing. Do we really need to touch up an image that looked fine already? The answer is no, people!
Source:
rivigurl/ Reddit
41. Those “candid” pics are never as they seem
Thank you to whoever posted the photo on the right online. It’s incredibly refreshing to see a real-life, unedited bikini body, even if the two women in question obviously preferred to deceive their followers with a fake idea of perfection. Posing for a photo is fine, but editing your body shape is out of order.
Source:
lowkeycathyyyy/ Reddit
42. Getting that empty shot
If you’ve ever been to Paris, you’ll know that hanging out around the Eiffel Tower feels more like being pushed in 6 different directions by impatient tourists. But this guy knows a secret – if he gets in the River Seine, he’s got an uninterrupted view of the tower. So if you pictured him chilling at the water’s edge by the photo of his champagne glass alone, think again.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzItjVHCnSN/?utm_source=ig_embed
43. Angles again
We’ve already shown you how the right angle can make a photo better, and here’s another example. Taken from bottom up, while she’s stretching her arms above her head, this woman has a completely different body shape to when she’s posing naturally on the beach. The reality is, of course, that we all spend most of our time on the beach looking like the woman on the right. So why pretend otherwise?
Source:
ohhithere21/ Reddit
44. You can’t trust your pets
We’ve all seen the photos of our friends cosied up to their pets, looking all loving and sweet and butter-wouldn’t-melt. But pets don’t always want to co-operate, as much as it might seem that way. Dogs are restless, and cats can get moodier than a teenager. This girl’s cat just wants a nap, and we don’t blame him. Selfies are so 2015.
Instagram vs reality pic.twitter.com/2NFxSCpVT2
— Wan Nur Syaira (@WanNurSyaira) November 11, 2018
45. One for the men
If you’re a man, listen up: these sorts of magazine shots are usually nothing more than an illusion. Yes, you can look good, but not everyone looks that good. Why this was even edited in the first place, we don’t know. Surely nobody cares about having a big – ahem – beyond high school.
Source:
Instagramreality/ Reddit
46. The real gym photo
If you’ve ever shared a gym photo, it’s probably because your subconscious needs validation that you’re living your #FitAndHealthyGoals (admit it, it’s true). But if you see your friends posing with a set of weights or “sweating it out” on the treadmill, take a second to consider how real the photo it. If they look too good to be true, there’s no way they’re doing a proper workout. You don’t go to the gym to look pretty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzA5-tRIphS/?utm_source=ig_embed
47. Catch the reflection
In this Good American campaign, Photoshop is almost expected. But take a look at the model’s reflection – we can quite clearly see her proper size, because the photo hasn’t been edited professionally. It’s quite horrifying that the editor cut her waist down to half the size of how it is in reality.
Source:
imadadjoke/ Reddit
48. The “clean side”
Not even the photos of our bedroom furniture on social media are accurate representations of our day-to-day lives. You best believe we’re only going to photograph our room after a deep clean. Nobody needs to see the makeup scattered everywhere, the laptop, the food wrappers… or is that true? This is the digital version of cleaning up before a friend visits, and it makes no sense. We may as well show off how we really live.
Instagram vs reality, hmm wonder which one would catch more attention if I was advertising the desk 🤔 pic.twitter.com/yVVnoHDRwv
— Gemma Louise (@bygemmaellis) September 3, 2018
49. Celeb editing
Celebrities are probably worst for showing off photos that are edited to the point of being unrealistic. It makes us wonder whether the likes of the Kardashians pay people to edit their photos before they post them online. Khloé looks very pretty on the photo on the right, so why she felt the need to majorly edit her face shape on the photo on the left is beyond us.
Source:
Instagramreality/ Reddit
50. Some things just aren’t attractive
We all know that model or celebrity who somehow manages to look appealing getting a blood facial, swimming under water or, in this case, bathed head-to-toe in mud. While the model on the left kind of makes it work, she’s cheating with her face uncovered. The photo on the right shows the reality of what all of us – models or not – would look like if we did mud bathing properly.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B03Rt_bhGF6/?utm_source=ig_embed
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