TikTok is all about fun and games, but some people are taking it way too far. Some of the newest trends on Tiktok include creating composite images that tell you if you’re “hot or not.” The “Hot or Not” trend is one where people use the same Shapeshifting effect that was used to find their celebrity lookalike, Marvel doppelgängers, and even ethnicity.
There are some who say that this technique isn’t very effective at finding lookalikes, so your mileage may vary. So you might want to think twice before following this trend unless your self-image is ironclad. This new trend uses the so-called “Attractive Face Scale,” which was based on photos from the Hot or Not website.
The “Attractive Face Scale” was created by Pierre Tourigny, a Flickr user who professed to be a photography enthusiast and statistics programmer from Canada. Pierre uses the Hot or Not website to create 30 hot or not composite images. The Hot or Not website is where people rate others’ attractiveness on a scale of 1-10 and an average score based on hundreds or even thousands of individual ratings takes only a few days. Pierre said he used the SquirlzMorph software to make multi-morph composites of the images he sorted based on the rankings. “The portraits are blurry because the source images are low-resolution with differences in posture, hairstyles, glasses, etc. so that I could use only 36 control points for the morphs,” he said.
@myarose__ #ShadowAndBone #SkipTheRinse #IFeelWeightless #ChipsGotTalent #hotornotcomposite #compositeimage ♬ King of the Hill Theme – The Refreshments
Pierre’s analysis? “First of all, the morphs tend to be prettier than their sources because face asymmetries and skin blemishes average out.” He also notes that fat is not attractive.
Many TikTok users are struggling with body image, so it’s best if you don’t participate in this trend. It may seem like nothing more than an innocent game, but some people could take this “hot or not” trend seriously. People were comparing themselves to a grid of fake faces long before TikTok users reported that the app was warping their body image.
@newfie_native Whelp I guess I’m less then average based on this 😂 #shapeshifter #bedhead #hotornot #notattractive #compositeimage ♬ King of the Hill Theme – The Refreshments
Actress and social media star Sissy Sheridan tweeted in May 2020 saying, “I liked my body before I downloaded TikTok.”
So why not just skip this whole “hot or not” trend? It’s unclear how the Shapeshifting effect decides which face to morph yours into, and frankly, it feels like a waste of time.
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