Are you giving people an IRL Shock?

More of us are altering our online image, but what about when we meet in real life?

HAVE YOU EVER done that sharp intake of breath – or worse, been the victim of it? We’re talking about the audible gasp when you meet someone for the first time and they’re unrecognisable from pictures you’ve seen online. You’ve experienced IRL Shock – and it’s becoming more common.

Last week, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons revealed that, in 2017, there were 8% fewer plastic surgeries. Among women, there was an astounding 44% drop in face and neck lifts, 20% fewer eyelifts, a 31% fall in browlifts and liposuction was down 29%. Surgeons suggest it’s because we’ve all realised it’s less painful – and considerably cheaper – to use filters and apps such as Facetune to make ourselves ‘look good’ (read: younger, line-free, thinner) on social media.

Which is all well and good until you have to LEAVE YOUR HOUSE. Whether it’s a Tinder date or a business lunch, we can all list times we’ve not recognised the person we thought we were meeting. Which begs the question: has someone thought that about you? No matter how body-posi or ‘real’ we profess to be, most of us still hold the camera as high as possible, use three apps and an insty filter on our selfies.

But the fact is, you spend most of your time in the living, breathing world where people can see the real real you. Until life really does become an episode of Black Mirror, we should all just present that unfiltered self everywhere – and not just to avoid IRL Shock.