Snapchat's funny filters unleash a craze among young people

Snapchat's popular filters amuse users and their friends. / Korea Times photo by Grace Lee

By Grace Lee

Yejin Park cannot stop using Snapchat and its filters, which incorporate facial-tracking technology to alter users' faces in fun ways.

“I don't usually take selfies, but when I do, I use filters from Snap,” Park said. Every day, about 150 million people use Snapchat, with those between 13 and 24 accounting for 60 percent.

Eunice Chong also loves to record videos of herself on Snapchat, singing or lip-syncing to songs with filters on her face. She mainly sends these videos to her friends and sometimes posts them on her “story” for her friends to see.

Snapchat is appealing to many because it has fun and silly filters. K-pop idols like SNSD's Tiffany and Lee Hi are known to use Snapchat and its filters.

To record a video or take a picture with a filter, tap the face icon on the bottom right and choose the filter you want. After capturing a video or a picture, you can also add captions, locations and many other changes.

The item can be made available for all your followers to see by posting it on your story.

The most popular filter is Snapchat's dog filter. It turns you into a dog and the dog's perky tongue lolls out when you open your mouth.

It is commonly used by girls because it is a great excuse to take selfies: they get to feel cute like a dog, with little doggy ears and noses.

Jimin Park claims that this filter is her favorite. “I love the dog filter because it's interactive,” she said. “You can record a video of yourself opening your mouth and have the dog's tongue come out. Also, it makes me look cute.”

Other face-changing filters are not so cute, but still popular. There are ones that make you look unattractive in a comical way.

Some of Snapchat's comical filters include: elongating one's face, making the face look like a demon, face swapping with another person and adding masks on one's face with other people's faces. These hilarious filters often come with voice-altering effects.

People enjoy these humorous filters because it is amusing to see how unattractive yet funny the apps make them look. Laughing with others is an easy way to connect with other people without putting themselves in a vulnerable position.

Beom Jun Lee, a frequent user of Snapchat, said: “Although it (the comical filter) makes you uglier, I think the extremity of the filter's deformation of the facial features eclipses the original face of the user. So it just comes across as being funny as it allows her or him to take on a character.”

Snapchat is a winner among teens and a large part has to do with it regularly adding unique features. It's not a surprise that it is gaining popularity daily.

Grace Lee is an intern studying at Emory University. Those who were interviewed in this article are U.S.-based students.