Distorted Realities On
Social Media
A "distorted reality" refers to a situation where a persons perception of reality is significantly altered or inaccurate.
About This Project
This project intends to research and explore the question:
To what extent are edited images and AI deepfakes creating "distorted realities" on social media?
The editing of images on social media is not a new practice, nor is the use of AI. But as editing technology advances and tools such as deepfakes become more advanced and easily available to the public, it is more relevant than ever to explore whether people's realities are being distorted online due to these types of editing.
Throughout this project, a vast amount of research has been carried out to explore the area of edited images and AI on social media. This project explores this and aims to get people to understand that not everything they see on social media is raw and real, especially in 2025 when AI content is used more than ever. This portfolio will display a photography series highlighting how hard AI content can be to spot and how this can potentially distort people's realities on social media.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all of the teaching staff that supported me throughout the project, especially my supervisor Alnoor, whose feedback and advice helped to shape this project.
I would also like to thank everyone who gave consent to help me in this project, whether by asking questions during the research stage or letting me take photographs of them for the later stages of the project.