Open AccessTHE NEW SELFIE STANDARD: FACETUNE AND THE SHIFT TOWARD EAST ASIAN SELFIE AESTHETICS
Author(s) -
JD Swerzenski,
Dasol Kim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
selected papers of internet research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2162-3317
DOI - 10.5210/spir.v2021i0.12249
Subject(s) - selfie , beauty , aesthetics , materiality (auditing) , affordance , face (sociological concept) , art , visual arts , sociology , computer science , human–computer interaction , social science
Since its release in 2013, Facetune has risen to become the top paidphoto and video app in the US. In this study, we document that the types of retouching toolsFacetune make available mark a more significant shift in the American cultural practice ofimage editing, signaling an adoption of East Asian attitudes toward beauty standards and theplasticity of the image. Working within the Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis(CTDA) framework, we track this shift by undertaking a Walkthrough Analysis of the Facetuneapp. This combination of methods allowed us to examine not only cultural beliefs around theself-image but also the affordances and materiality of the app by directly engaging theinterface and technical functions of the app. We found evidence of Facetune pushing certainEast Asian beauty ideals that may fall outside of American standards such as the Faceresizing features that allow users to adjust nose, eyes, forehead, and lips by size andposition. Furthermore, Facetune uses the photo not in its traditional role as a vessel fordepicting a certain scene in time, but as a blank canvas on which to produce an idealdigital self. These findings offer a significant contribution in understanding shiftingimage editing practices online, particularly by highlighting the new technological tools andcultural beliefs that are leading this shift.