TikTok is a popular short-form video platform that allows users to create and share 15 to 60 second videos. Since launching in 2016, TikTok has grown to over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide [1]. One of the app’s most popular features are its facial filters and effects. According to recent statistics, 64% of TikTok users have used face filters or lenses on the app [2]. Filters allow users to alter their appearance in fun and creative ways. Some of the most popular filters include ones that add makeup, change facial features, add animal ears, or swap faces with a friend. TikTok’s wide selection of filters helps users express themselves, go viral, and gain followers.
Popularity of Filters on TikTok
Filters are extremely popular on TikTok, with 64% of TikTok users having tried them according to one report (https://xperiencify.com/tiktok-statistics/). Their frequent use makes filters a defining feature of the platform. Part of the appeal is the variety available, from subtle touch-ups to dramatic transformations. For many users, filters have become an integral part of creating and engaging with video content on TikTok.
Default Filter Settings
TikTok’s default filter settings automatically apply a subtle filter to every video uploaded to the platform. According to TikTok’s support page, the app uses AI facial analysis to apply “beautification effects” by default. These effects include smoothing skin, adjusting facial features, whitening teeth, and enhancing eyes and lips.
The strength of the default filter can range from light to heavy depending on factors detected by TikTok’s AI such as age, gender, and lighting. Many users, especially those using older iPhones with lower resolution cameras, may not even notice the effects since they are meant to be subtle enhancements.
While TikTok argues these default filters “help highlight a user’s natural beauty,” many creators have complained they promote unrealistic beauty standards without consent. Users can adjust or turn off the filters in their account settings. But the controversy reflects larger concerns around TikTok’s AI and whether its algorithms promote harmful stereotypes.
Filter Options
TikTok offers a wide variety of filters that users can apply to their videos. Some of the main types of filters available include:
Color Filters – These filters overlay a color tone onto your video. Popular options include black and white, sepia, pink, blue, and more. Color filters provide an easy way to alter the look and feel of your video.
Beauty Filters – Designed to enhance facial features, beauty filters smooth skin, widen eyes, sharpen jawlines, and more. They aim to improve perceived attractiveness. However, excessive beauty filter use has faced criticism for promoting unrealistic beauty standards.
Fun Filters – These overlay graphics and animations like animal ears or faces, static distortions, shapes, and more. Fun filters add quirky effects to make videos more playful.
AR Lenses – Augmented reality lenses use facial tracking to add overlays that move with you, like 3D glasses or hats. This takes filters to the next level for dynamic effects.
Text Overlays – Text options allow users to add text banners, captions, and other words onto videos. This provides a simple way to enhance videos with text.
In addition to static filters, TikTok also offers many effects that react to sound, camera movement, and more. Overall, the wide range of filters lets users customize the look and feel of their videos however they choose.
AI Facial Analysis
TikTok uses advanced AI technology to detect and analyze faces in videos in order to apply filters. The app’s AI facial recognition system scans each frame of a video to identify key facial features like eyes, nose, and mouth. It tracks these facial landmarks throughout the video to understand the movements and expressions being made.
This facial tracking data allows TikTok to apply filters like smoothing skin or enhancing eyes in a dynamic way that moves with the person on camera. The AI systematically analyzes facial attributes like skin tone, face shape, and facial hair to customize the filter’s effects for each user.
According to Victor Nunes, a TikTok influencer, the app’s facial recognition system is advanced enough to detect faces even when drawn or obscured in creative ways. He demonstrates the technology’s capabilities by tricking the filter system with artistic videos. This shows how TikTok’s AI goes beyond simplistic face detection to enable nuanced, robust filtering effects.
Overall, TikTok leverages state-of-the-art computer vision and neural networks to provide users with personalized, intelligent filters optimized for faces. The AI continuously improves through machine learning on the platform’s huge trove of video data.
User Customization
One of the most unique aspects of TikTok filters is the ability for users to customize them. TikTok provides a variety of tools that allow users to adjust filters to fit their personal preferences and creative vision. According to How To Use TikTok Filters, users can adjust settings like intensity, color hues, vignette styles, and more. There are also options to layer multiple filters for a customized effect.
Giving users creative control over filter application is a key part of TikTok’s appeal. As noted in TikTok Filters 101: How To Use Filters to Enhance Your Videos, the ability to customize filters allows users to add a personal touch to their content. Filters tailored to a user’s specific video can help the content stand out and feel more authentic. This level of personalization is unique compared to filters on other platforms.
Overall, TikTok empowers users to make filters their own through an array of adjustable settings and options. This encourages creativity and enables videos that reflect each user’s individuality.
Filter Effects on Engagement
Research shows that using filters on TikTok can significantly increase engagement on videos. One study by Influencer Marketing Hub found that videos using a filter averaged 35.2% more likes compared to videos without filters. Videos with filters also saw a 30.8% increase in comments on average. The interactive filters tend to perform the best, as they encourage viewers to engage and try the filters themselves. Beauty filters are also popular, helping creators showcase makeup, skincare, and hairstyling content. Overall, TikTok’s data shows that filters boost content discoverability and make videos more likely to go viral.
Criticism of Filters
One major area of criticism for TikTok’s filters focuses on concerns about their potential negative impact on users’ self-image and mental health, especially among young people. Filters that beautify or alter users’ appearances have been accused of promoting unrealistic beauty standards that can lower self-esteem and body image (1). For example, the “Teen” filter went viral for making people look younger, but child safety experts warned it could endanger minors (2). Filters like the popular #boldglamourfilter have also faced backlash for encouraging harmful ideals around women’s looks (3).
Therapists caution that constant exposure to these filters can cause psychological distress and contribute to conditions like body dysmorphia (1,2). Critics argue TikTok has an ethical responsibility to consider these mental health implications, particularly due to its youthful userbase. While personal choice plays a role, some want TikTok to take a more proactive approach in protecting vulnerable users from filters’ potentially damaging effects on self-perception and self-worth.
(1) https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230301-the-problems-with-tiktoks-controversial-beauty-filters
(2) https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/tiktok-face-filters-rack-millions-views-stirring-controversy-97443381
(3) https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Wellness/tiktok-face-filters-rack-millions-views-stirring-controversy/story?id=97443381
TikTok’s Stance
TikTok has acknowledged that some users feel the app applies beauty filters to videos without consent. In an official statement to Nylon, TikTok said “We do not automatically apply a beauty filter to any content. The default setting for our beauty filter is ‘off,’ and people can easily switch filters on or off before recording.”
TikTok encourages creators to embrace their authentic selves, but provides filters as creative tools for those who want to use them. Users have control over filter settings and can choose how filters are applied. As stated on TikTok’s newsroom site, “We work to empower our community to celebrate what makes them different while also finding common ground in one another’s shared experiences.”
Conclusion
In summary, TikTok applies filters to videos by default in order to enhance visual appeal, allow creativity and customization, and drive engagement on the platform. The default filters utilize AI technology to analyze facial features and apply beautifying effects. Users have options to remove filters, customize filter intensity, and even create their own branded filters. While some criticize TikTok filters for promoting unrealistic beauty standards, TikTok maintains that filters simply provide entertainment value and allow users to present their preferred image.
Going forward, we may see TikTok expand filter options as the app continues rapid growth. TikTok may also adjust default settings based on research around engagement and well-being. As viral videos spread across the Internet, TikTok will likely remain under scrutiny regarding its impacts on body image and self-esteem, especially for younger users. The platform will need to balance business success with ethical considerations around filters and their effects. Overall, TikTok’s filters reveal how AI, computer vision, and AR technology are transforming social media and changing the way we portray ourselves online.