No matter how beautiful and ‘perfect’ the photos on your Instagram feed might look, not all of them are real. Some are so heavily photoshopped, edited, and altered, it’s borderline ridiculous. I know, it sounds unbelievable that somebody would lie on the internet like this!

This is where the Instagram Reality subreddit comes in. It’s a community that finds and shames the most heavily photo-edited IG pictures. Check out their newest pics below and upvote the ones that blew your minds the most, dear Pandas. And read on for Bored Panda’s interview with one of the moderators at r/InstagramReality, redditor Cluelessnumber7.

After you’re done scrolling down in disbelief, you might want to have a look through Bored Panda’s previous posts about the weird world of Instagram vs. Reality photos here, here, and here.

#1 Not Even Craters Are Safe From Mad Filtering

Image credits: _-_FanGirl_-_

#2 She’s 50 Years Old And Photoshops Herself To Look Like She’s In Her Late 20s. Women, There Is Nothing Wrong With Looking Your Age. You’re Not Expected To Look Like A 20 Year Old Forever

Image credits: reddit.com

#3 The Original Has Finally Seen The Light Of Day

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Moderator Cluelessnumber7 explained to Bored Panda about the two main negative effects of heavily photoshopping photos. “The first? The unrealistic expectations influencers purport to their impressionable followers. The amazingly smooth skin, suddenly common almond shaped eyes, pouty lips, sharp jaw lines, slim hourglass shapes, and so on,” they said.

“What’s being lost by just posting that photo for the masses is the time it took to pick the outfit, hunt down the right lighting, pick which hand to take the selfies with (yes, seriously), and that’s all before smoothing, refining, and resizing in Facetune. Without disclosing that, there is now a countless amount of people comparing themselves (and perhaps spending money to look like) a person who doesn’t exist,” the redditor pointed out one of the dangers of influencers heavily altering their own appearance.

#4 He Forgot To Photoshop The iPhone Box’s Shadow

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#5 So Hot, The Car Melted

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#6 Skin? Never Heard Of It

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“The second is one that many people don’t like to address—the insecurities of those who feel the need to edit their photos. They’ve been editing their photos for so long it could mean losing the validation from their followers, losing followers, and maybe losing sponsors if they came clean. So, they would rather enjoy the false fame, than risk losing it over integrity.”

We also wanted to find out what steps could be taken to reduce the amount of photo-editing that people do online. “This is a very complicated question, but one step that we should fight for is to get rid of all filters that alter the shape, size, or proportions of anything to do with someone’s body,” Cluelessnumber7 told us.

“Filters have become a crutch for so many people on Instagram that they now edit their still photos to look like their filtered Snapchat videos; adjusting their noses, tone of their skin, smoothing all blemishes, adding lashes in post,” they said. “These filters, while fun, are surprisingly insidious. You don’t realize that you expect to look like the filtered version of yourself, until you attempt to take a photo without them.”

#7 Blursed Rich Man

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#8 Can‘t Believe How She Thinks That’s Acceptable

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#9 I Didn’t Know There Was A Wax Statue In Milan

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While there’s nothing wrong with putting an artistic filter on a photo to slightly change the colors, it’s easy to go overboard. A handful of changes can become a dozen which then become a hundred and soon enough, you’ve airbrushed yourself so much, you can’t even recognize yourself anymore.

According to Brooke Erin Duffy, an assistant professor at Cornell University studying self-presentation on Instagram, “Nobody wants to be called fake.” So deciding how much to edit your photos is a huge dilemma for influencers.

“Influencers very much feel they need to present themselves authentically while getting the best image possible,” she told The Guardian.

#10 So What Now, Are We Supposed To Be Ashamed Of Our… Ankles?

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#11 So We Gone Talk About That Leg Or Nah

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#12 Shrunken Head

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Meanwhile, the Instagram Reality community moderators further shared their own thoughts about photoshopping pictures in a previous interview with Bored Panda.

According to them, Instagram users want to see influencers post natural photos of themselves, not something that’s been “edited to hell” and back. The mods remain optimistic that influencers will eventually realize that, especially with part of the global population still stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

#13 “No Filter” But Instagram Says Otherwise At The Top

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#14 Had This Saved As Inspiration To Lose Weight When Struggling With An Eating Disorder. Now, I Can’t Believe I Never Noticed The Water Bending Around Her Waist

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#15 Smooth As Low Grit Sanding Paper

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The things that make people yearn to photoshop themselves into ‘perfect’ human beings are “insecurity, envy, and money,” as well as avoiding embarrassment because you think you might have hang-ups about some parts of your body or face.

However, natural photos have a lot of charm because they’re authentic, honest, and more people can relate to them.

#16 Eyes, Skin, Cheekbones… So Natural Looking

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#17 Found On A Thinspo Account. Send Help

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#18 I Guess She Thought No One Would Notice Her Editing If She Blurred Out Her Surroundings

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#19 I Thought People Had More Sense Than To Believe This Is Real, But She Popped Up On My Feed Because Friends Of Mine Shared Images Like This As “Goals”

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#20 Ribs? Only For Dinner

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#21 Armpits Are So Overrated

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#22 Got That Sims 1 Graphics Look

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#23 The Mirror Always Seems To Expose These People

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#24 Oh My God

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#25 On Instagram vs.on TV

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#26 Didn’t Believe These Were The Same Person.. But They Are

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#27 “Water” At Popular Instagram Location In Bali Is Actually An Optical Illusion. It’s A Piece Of Glass Under An iPhone

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#28 I Literally Have No Words…

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#29 Are You Sure About The Non-Photoshop Part?

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#30 Elbows Are Unfashionable

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#31 Angles Change People

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#32 A Giant Right Arm

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#33 When One Person Posts The Edited Photo And The Other Posts The Original

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#34 Instagram vs. Video Screenshot

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#35 Bendy Grass Around The Waist

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#36 I Can’t Believe She Still Thinks We Believe She Looks Like The Left Pic Irl

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#37 When I First Saw This, I Thought I Was Still Asleep

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#38 Burmese Influencer Claims Her Skinny Waist Come From Eating Healthy

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#39 She Doesn’t Look Human Anymore

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#40 This Is Why Instagram Needs To Get Banned Like Tiktok

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#41 Don’t Compare Yourself To Photoshopped People

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#42 Natural Glow vs. “Natural Glow”

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#43 I Saw A Girl On Instagram Using This Photo As Motivation For Starving Herself. Photoshopping Is Harmful

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#44 Mommy Long Legs

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#45 She Deleted This Shortly After Realizing That Humans Aren’t Supposed To Have Mono-Plastic Butts

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#46 According To Her Bio, “Social Media Seriously Harms Your Mental Health”

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#47 They Look Like Animated Dolls

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#48 Jawline Looking Like The Hull Of A Ship

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#49 One Of The Biggest Influencers In My Country, Literally Hundreds Of Thousands Of Little Girls Idolize Her Unnatural Body

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#50 Streaks On The Wall Be Curving

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#51 When One Girl Posts The Edited Picture And The Other Girl Posts The Original

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#52 Her Face Looks Like It’s From Another Body

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#53 I Know This One Isn’t Extreme, But Has Anyone Else Ever Noticed That You See A Lot Of Pictures On Social Media Where The Guy Looks Normal But The Girl Is Super Airbrushed?

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#54 If She Was Going To Edit Her Face This Much, She Should Have At Least Photoshopped The Baby Too

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#55 I Just

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#56 Gym Sessions Were Lit

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#57 Avatar: The Last Stair Bender

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#58 Screenshot From A Video vs. Instagram

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#59 At Least She’s Being Honest About This One??

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#60 Give The Photo Retoucher A Raise

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#61 Even World Famous Mma Fighters Seem To Struggle With Curvy Pillars

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#62 Waist Like Barbie, Left Arm Of A Gi Joe

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#63 What Amazingly Curved Legs!

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#64 I Don’t Think This Is Normal…?

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#65 As Seen On Aliexpress

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#66 Look How Small Her Neck Is

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#67 Looks Like He Does Extra Leg Days

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#68 From A Local Professional Photographer’s Portfolio. Her Neck And Chest Show The Reality Of The Situation

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#69 Found On Snapchat, Left Is A Picture And Right Is From A Video

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#70 This Girl Got Famous For Her Natural Long Legs… So Natural And Realistic

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#71 When Your Teeth And Sclera Are The Same Pearly White Color

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#72 Another Chinese Online Shopping Mall. Sure Today’s Trend Is Long Legs

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#73 She Managed To Photoshop The Other Girl To Look Just Like Her

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#74 Sick Biceps

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#75 How Did I Not See How Unrealistically Photoshopped Her Photos Are?! And This Post Was Supposed To Be About Body Positivity?!

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#76 Stair Goes Brrrrr

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#77 Right Arm = Noodle Arm?

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#78 Guess Who Failed Middle School Biology

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#79 The Picture She Posts On Ig vs. The Video. Why Do They Think We Won’t Recognize The Difference ?

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#80 Screenshot From A Video And A Photo That’s Posted A Month Later. A Gentle Reminder That Nobodies Waist Is Slimmer Than Their Head

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#81 Straight Lines And Influencers, Name A More Iconic Duo…

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#82 They Used #noedit

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#83 A Famous “Body Positive” Influencer’s Excuse For Editing Out Rolls

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#84 Definitely Not The Best Wallpaper For Removing Ribs With Photoshop

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Source: boredpanda.com