Fashion, pop culture and how to survive the new social media norm come hand in hand today. I wrote this post looking at the up coming Oasis Reunion tour from a fashion perspective. I feel it is fairly beginner friendly, would love to hear your thoughts and predictions on what you think the Pop Culture x Fashion world will look like in a years time! app.t2.world/article/cm0jls0me6554961xmccxy8jchf

Back again with another AR ted talk, this time inspired by questions/comments on my last post✨

For more context, there has been heated discussions over the past few days on the topic of AR as Meta (formerly known as Facebook) announced this week they were discontinuing Meta Spark, a free desktop app for creators to make or be commissioned to make AR filters to be used on well known social media apps Instagram and Facebook. My first rant can be found here orb.club/p/0x01c74b-0x037f

Comment from @sankalpk …its kinda contradictory of Meta to close the SparkAr since mark himself was talking about exciting new AR Glasses that they gonna come up with soon. Maybe the AR filters didnt make good business now, but when we have AR glasses in the market and their adoption, any AR tech or features will sell

Totally agree on this point, a bit weird on the timing, I did read over on Substack one Meta employee mentioning how they are ‘working on something big for a Fall release’ though, weird timing for it all to be honest. Also if it is another new social media platform I will rip my hair out, I’m fairly sure my fellow web3 artists will agree😂 you do have a point with the glasses, Apple needs some good rivals (not in a negative way, but to encourage innovation and to create products that people will actually use) I personally don’t see AR as we know it now being a big part of the experience, not yet anyway for the masses with tech limitations and the reasoning behind using it other than for yourself is almost nonexistent but once that catches up it will be❤️🔥

Question 1 from @ruthness **What’s your opinion on AR Filters and their impact on self-worth and mental health, especially for young women and girls? Studies have shown that these filters, while popular and creative, can contribute to issues like body dysmorphia and lower self-esteem by promoting unrealistic beauty standards. ** My short answer would be yes I agree, they can be very harmful and miss leading and things need to be better.

As a longer answer, my take is a big company like Meta pulling their creator made filters is only going to make things worse. Whether we like it or not face filters are a big norm of the internet today especially in Influencer marketing.

At the moment, when you upload a video natively in an app using the filters there is a clickable link in the video for you to try it out or get more information. With the right education, this is a lot more transparency compared to the fashion magazines I devoured as a preteen in the early 2000’s, where everything was a lie. However, with Meta discontinuing creator made filters, this leaves no option for influencers but to create content on other apps like TikTok or Snapchat, download it, delete the watermark using AI and uploading to Instagram, this could result in even more confusion and misleading content. Sure, some do this already, but it will soon be EVERYWHERE. I believe this will soon become a huge issue that will need to be solved.

Question 2 from @ruthness As someone working in the AR industry, how do you see this balancing act between innovation and the potential negative effects on users?

Again this is a tricky one, as a creator and educator in the space I have several opinions. As you mentioned the issues AR is causing with younger generations needs to be addressed asap(this is where blockchain technology could play a perfect roll in a faster and more transparent option if Protocols like @lens can move fast this will be a game changer) With real-time AI-powered face and voice manipulations on the horizon, this issue is only going to increase, as it will no longer be only young people at risk but all of us with a fully developed frontal lobe will be equally vulnerable. The issue no longer lies in a little contour and lipstick.

On a separate note, when we take a look at what AR is and it’s potential, beyond the surface that is funny silly memes, face filters and fun games, although it is imperfect we start too see it also as a safe space to explore you and your identity with little to no risk. Unlike games or the Metaverse which are out of body experiences, AR allows you to be you where you are right now to explore. Whether it is a haircut, a make up look or a fun outfit, AR enables anyone with a smartphone to do so. I think this is what angers me the most about the situation Meta has put us all in, as imperfect as it is it also has the potential to literally save lives but they are taking this option away.

So to conclude in order to solve the issues and problems, innovation IS needed, and it needed to happen yesterday but we might still make it in time