What even is Facetune?

I hate getting my picture taken. I take selfies so rarely, Kaitlyn once [had me on her podcast]( to talk about it! The reason is I am vain. I don’t think I look like myself (or maybe it’s I don’t look like my best self?) in most pictures, and so I just abstain. But what if I could make those pictures ... better? That’s the promise of [Facetune](, a photo-editing app that Rebecca wrote about this week. And honestly, it’s complicated. What is real? What is not? What is good? What is bad? Maybe just don’t take pictures! I don’t know. Read the piece. —[Julia Rubin](, editor of The Goods Check out [Why'd You Push That Button?](, a podcast from The Verge and The Goods all about the decisions technology forces us to make. This week, Kaitlyn Tiffany and Ashley Carman look into [who still uses Snapchat]( and why (spoiler: nudes and friendship). Facetune and the internet’s endless pursuit of physical perfection [facetune]( Christina Animashaun for Vox There’s a tool in Facetune, the popular selfie-editing app, that Zoe Schuver uses to make her earrings look shinier. There are others that smooth her skin, whiten the insides of her eyes, and adjust the lighting. But that’s the extent of her Facetune use. Says the 21-year-old college senior in St. Louis: “If [you’re editing] little things it’s fine, but you can tell when someone’s done a lot to their pictures.” Zoe says that neither she nor her friends really use Facetune much, but they see evidence of it constantly, on the Instagram accounts of influencers and celebrities. If an acquaintance from school or someone in their social circle used it too heavily though? That’d be weird, she explains. Everyone would probably talk about it. It’d be a whole thing. Zoe is part of a generation that has never known a world that isn’t filled with digitally manipulated images. They have had access to modern technology and social media for much of their lives, and they’ve also had the power to digitally manipulate those images themselves. Facetune is the ultimate culmination of those two forces: A cheap, easy-to-use Photoshop alternative in the pocket of anyone with a smartphone, allowing them to smooth, slim, or skew any part of their face or body in an instant. [Read the full story on Vox ]( Why is everyone on Tinder so obsessed with tacos? On dating apps, tacos are more than just delicious — they’re shorthand for a personality. [Read the story here ]( Lean Cuisine doesn’t want to be part of diet culture anymore. Does it have a choice? The cheap diet dinners are stuffed with a near-impossible amount of significance — and fewer than 350 calories. [Read the story here ]( More good stuff to read today - [Meet the men obsessed with carrying all the right stuff]( - [How Warped Tour led the consumerist music festival revolution]( - [Walmart and CVS are among the retailers being sued for aiding the spread of opioids]( - [The budget furniture dilemma]( - [This ear piercing startup wants to replace the mall experience]( - [A day in name-changing court]( Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving emails from Vox Media. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.