With social media dominating so much of our time, it’s hard to imagine life before filtering photos was part of our daily routine.
And while your Insta filter of choice may have seemed relatively insignificant before now, a study has shown that your favourite form of camouflage may actually reveal some very important clues about your mental health.
During a study of 166 Instagram accounts and almost 44,000 photos, researchers from Harvard and the University of Vermont discovered a link between particular colours, filters and subjects in people’s social media accounts and depression.
Photos which featured more blue, dark and grey colours were found to predict depression in the individual who posted them.
People with depression were more likely to have fewer faces in their pics than those without – which could be linked to socialising less frequently - and they were also less likely to use filters.
Where filters were used, the black and white edit Inkwell was most commonly associated with depressive states. Additionally, depressed individuals generally received fewer likes for their posts than those with more positive mental diagnoses.
According to the Evening Standard, those behind the study believe its results are significant enough to suggest that Instagram photos could actually be used in the future as a form of mental health screening.
So turns out all that time debating whether Hefe or Nashville is better could be of use after all.
Feat image: NPR
