The Use of Augmented Reality Social Media Filters and Inter¬est to Pursue Aesthetic Procedures: Is There A Link?

Abstract

Background and Aims: Social media plays a critical role in the way people perceive beauty standards. Through filtered photos and augmented reality, people are exposed to idealized images of beauty that can influence their desire to pursue cosmetic surgery. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that social media is directly responsible for the increasing number of people seeking cosmetic surgery, but the trend is worth observing. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of augmented reality social media filters on users’ pursuit of aesthetic procedures Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using an online anonymous questionnaire between February and March 2022, to assess the effect of augmented reality social media filters on users’ pursuit of aesthetic procedures. Inclusion criteria were a variety of populations above 18 years of age, both men and women who were living in Saudi Arabia. While exclusion criteria were people who were not living in Saudi Arabia and were under 18 years of age regardless of their sex. The survey was delivered through Google sheets, and the questionnaire data were exported into an Excel file. We used R Studio (v.4.1.2.) for summarizing, visualizing, and analyzing the data. Results: The majority of the respondents (52%) used social media for an average of two to five hours per day, while 33% spent more than five hours a day. A total of 473 (29%) respondents had previously had at least one cosmetic intervention which mostly included taking a cosmetic injection (OBT-A, filler, etc.) Moreover, 61% of the participants followed one or more social media influencers, of which 165 (10%) followed more than 10 influencers. Similarly, gender, previous cosmetic intervention, number of influencers followed, and wanting an appearance similar to the filters in real life showed a very high statistical difference (p-value < 0.001). This study found that men were more likely than women to choose surgery as a cosmetic intervention, and that people who had undergone previous cosmetic interventions were more likely to choose the same intervention again. Conclusions: The use of social media filters can be a significant factor in pursuing cosmetic procedures, especially among young women. While it may be used as a tool to help estimate the results of procedures, cos¬metic surgeons should be aware of the potential dangers and be sure to prioritize patient safety.