Affect the Effect

Locations

99756
United States
64° 31' 24.3336" N, 151° 58' 6.312" W

Post-camera angling, perfecting our facial expressions, we hold our breath as we click the button that supposedly captures the real you--

However in today’s society, seizes the artificial.

Erasing every blemish that makes you unique, society is morphing together until all their images look the same—

Impeccable skin and features, we are obsessed with cyber-perfection,

We turn into imitators of the imitation superhuman.

Just as celebrities are known for their signature something,

We too, yearn to stand out above all—

So why do we hide our signature, what makes us different, our unedited self?!

Why do we mimic others and follow the trends when that just buries us in deeper with the crowd?!

You can affect the effect.

The filter epidemic spreading believing that one is more desirable with filters is infecting the nation.

It’s side-effects are low self-esteem, insecurity, and even depression—stemming from the notion that the picture you posted is now deemed unrecognizable from your maelstrom of filters.

Affect when you put effects on your pictures—like I do.

Before I erase the freckles under my smiling blue eyes, before I darken my porcelain skin tone, and before I layer filter after filter on every picture, desperate to have someone call me pretty, I stop and think.

What’s the point of all this?!

Why would I want people to like a picture of me that doesn’t even embrace who I am?

Why would I want people to befriend me thinking I act and look as I do online when that person doesn’t even exist?!

Without those filters, I feel like a shrine of confidence and truth,

All twirled up in a batch of natural, sun-lit beauty.

Everyone has that beauty.

You just need to discover it.

We started this epidemic, so we must end it.

Affect the effect.

Poetry Terms Demonstrated: 

Comments

Additional Resources

Get AI Feedback on your poem

Interested in feedback on your poem? Try our AI Feedback tool.
 

 

If You Need Support

If you ever need help or support, we trust CrisisTextline.org for people dealing with depression. Text HOME to 741741