Exposed: Don’t Trust What You See On Social Media

Look, it’s no secret that people edit their photos. I have definitely adjusted my angles to make myself look taller or cranked up the saturation to make a photo more vibrant. No one is going to be bothered if you slightly edit your photos before you post them. It becomes a problem however, when you brand yourself as body positive, build a massive following and two companies from posting "real" photos of your body, and then get exposed for photoshopping the entire time. 

“Body positive" influencer Karina Irby has been called out for editing her body to look "skinner" by John Dorsey aka @goob_u2. The reason I, like many others on the internet, find this so upsetting is because she built a career off of posting her authentic body, and encouraging others to do the same. Scrolling her Instagram you’ll see captions such as:

Irby's entire brand and persona is centered around being unabashedly herself. She even takes the time to explain how harmful unrealistic beauty expectations can be on young women especially. She shares the struggles she went through as a teenager comparing herself to airbrushed images. 

She even takes it one step further by posting photos of herself both edited and "not edited” which was highlighted in @goob_u2's reel.  She captioned this post calling out influencers who edit their bodies, and accuses them of being part of the problem. Irby then goes on to say, "Be the change you want to see."

She decided to go on a weight loss journey which is great. Good for her. Do whatever will make you feel your best, and be your healthiest. The problem is, she is editing her body to look thinner than it really is. This goes against absolutely EVERYTHING she preaches, and completely contradicts the message she built her massive following on. It is extremely deceitful, and honestly just down right sad. We are talking about a person who literally writes captions about the beauty of cellulite, and founded two businesses by branding herself as "authentic" and unedited. She has shamed and judged others who edit their photos, only to be exposed for doing it too.

This photo is one of the many examples @goob_u2 shows as evidence of Karina Irby editing her body. As you can see she made her waist much smaller. If you draw a straight line from the top of the door down you can see where the door magically disappears. This is an obvious result of bad photoshopping.

Please use this as reminder to stop comparing yourself to people you see on social media. That also goes for influencers who built their entire platform on “body positivity.”

Until next time, 

Sammy