a day ago
Why Are We Obsessed With Asking the Internet How Old We Look?
When I was seventeen, I babysat a group of preschoolers for a few hours once a week. Sometimes, these four- and five-year-olds would try to guess my age: 'Are you 12?' 'Are you 40?' 'Are you 9?' 'Are you 100?' They had no clue what any age older than their own looked like, no concept of the difference between a 9-year-old, a 29-year-old, and an 89-year-old. Today, I don't have to spend time with a toddler to have that experience; I just have to open TikTok.
'Aging' filters have gone viral on TikTok at various points over the past few years. This summer's take on the trend is set to 'Let Me Clear My Throat' by DJ Kool, and the trend goes like this: You begin the video with the 'aged filter' on, then, when the beat drops, take the filter off to reveal your real, younger face. When actor Ashley Tisdale participated in the trend, comments were effusive: 'YOU LOOK 25,' '40!!! you literally haven't aged,' 'YOU DIDN'T AGE A DAMN DAY.' But TikTokers who haven't starred in a Disney Channel Original Movie are seeing very different comments: 'I'm sorry but I literally didn't realize the filter was gone.' 'Spot the difference: extremely hard edition.' 'Some people should sit some trends out.' Ouch.
Anyone who's spent time online knows how it goes: Ask the internet how old you look, and you're going to get your feelings hurt. You're 40 and think you look 25? Well, commenters are here to tell you that you actually look 70. So why do we keep posting?
To begin, I asked an influencer Rickquell Flowers. Her video participating in the trend, posted in early August, has 22.7 million views on TikTok and counting — not to mention the various places it's been reposted. The top-voted comments on the original: 'The wrong people are choosing to do this,' 'Goodbye Paris, hello France,' 'before and before.' Personally, if I had millions of internet strangers telling me I look elderly, I'd be trying to move somewhere WiFi could not find me, but Flowers is taking it in good humor. She even posted a trolling follow-up video claiming that she is actually 56 (in reality, she's 33).
