Hot or Not Composite Images On TikTok Use Face Morphs For Comparison

Home > Trending > TikTok
SOURCE: TIKTOK
TikTok’s “Hot or Not” Trend Is All

Kinds of Problematic, and Here's
Why
BY DAN CLARENDON
MAY. 1 2021, UPDATED 3:21 P.M. ET
If you’re up for a TikTok effect arbitrarily judging your
appearance, you too can join in on the “fun." That's
because TikTok users are using composite images to
find out if they’re “hot or not."
This “hot or not” trend uses the same Shapeshifting
effect that people used to find their celebrity
lookalike, their Marvel doppelgänger, and even
their ethnicity.
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But as we’ve pointed out before, the effect isn’t so
effective at finding lookalikes, so your mileage may
vary. And we would recommend skipping this
particular trend altogether unless you’re one of those
one-in-a-million people with ironclad self-image.
The trend uses the so-called “Attractive

Face Scale,” which was based on
photos from the Hot or Not website.
SOURCE: PIERRE TOURIGNEY/TIKTOK
The image against which TikTok users are comparing
themselves is the “Attractive Face Scale” created
by Pierre Tourigny, a Flickr user who professed to be
a photography enthusiast and statistics programmer
from Gatineau, Canada.

When he shared the scale to Flickr in 2006, Pierre
wrote that he created the 30 composite images from a
collection of photos culled from the now-defunct
‘website Hot or Not, where “people rate others’
attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10” and “an average
score based on hundreds or even thousands of
individual ratings takes only a few days to emerge,”
as he explained.
Pierre said he downloaded the images, sorted them
by ranking, and used the SquirlzMorph software to
create multi-morph composites of rank groupings.
“The portraits are blurry because the source images
are low-resolution with differences in posture,
hairstyles, glasses, etc., so that I could use only 36
control points for the morphs,” he added.

@jennapesa
this hurted my feelings ngl #fyp #shapeshifter

#hotornot #compositeimage #foryou
♬ King of the Hill Theme - The Refreshments
SOURCE: TIKTOK
Pierre’s conclusions? First of all, the morphs “tend to
be prettier than their sources because face
asymmetries and skin blemishes average out,” and
second, “fat is not attractive.” (If you believe or agree
with that, please read up on society’s fatphobia
problem.)
Feel free not to participate in the trend,

since TikTok users already struggle
with body image perceptions.
Some TikTok users may view this “hot or not” trend as
just inane fun, but some people could take it very
seriously. And that could be a real problem.
You see, even before people started comparing
themselves to a grid of fake faces, TikTok users were
already reporting that the app was warping their body
image, as NBC News reported in July.
SOURCE: TEDX TALKS/YOUTUBE
“When I initially downloaded TikTok, I saw a lot of
really, really negative body image videos,” Brittani
Lancaster, a TikTok body positive activist, told the
outlet. “It’s not worth it to keep seeing these posts if
it’s worsening your mental health.”
In May 2020, actress and social media star Sissy
Sheridan tweeted, “I liked my body before I
downloaded TikTok.”
So it’s totally OK and maybe even recommended to
skip this “hot or not” trend. After all, there’s no
documentation on how this Shapeshifting effect
chooses which face to morph yours into, and frankly,
the whole “Hot or Not” conceit and the attractiveness
scale are unproductive and unhealthy. Let’s just say
we’re all hot and call it a day!

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Home > Trending > TikTok

TikTok’s “Hot or Not” Trend Is All

If you’re up for a TikTok effect arbitrarily judging your

appearance, you too can join in on the “fun." That's

because TikTok users are using composite images to

find out if they’re “hot or not."

This “hot or not” trend uses the same Shapeshifting

effect that people used to find their celebrity

lookalike, their Marvel doppelgänger, and even

But as we’ve pointed out before, the effect isn’t so

effective at finding lookalikes, so your mileage may

vary. And we would recommend skipping this

particular trend altogether unless you’re one of those

one-in-a-million people with ironclad self-image.

The trend uses the so-called “Attractive

SOURCE: PIERRE TOURIGNEY/TIKTOK

The image against which TikTok users are comparing

themselves is the “Attractive Face Scale” created

by Pierre Tourigny, a Flickr user who professed to be

a photography enthusiast and statistics programmer

from Gatineau, Canada.

When he shared the scale to Flickr in 2006, Pierre

wrote that he created the 30 composite images from a

collection of photos culled from the now-defunct

‘website Hot or Not, where “people rate others’

attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10” and “an average

score based on hundreds or even thousands of

individual ratings takes only a few days to emerge,”

Pierre said he downloaded the images, sorted them

by ranking, and used the SquirlzMorph software to

create multi-morph composites of rank groupings.

“The portraits are blurry because the source images

are low-resolution with differences in posture,

hairstyles, glasses, etc., so that I could use only 36

control points for the morphs,” he added.

this hurted my feelings ngl #fyp #shapeshifter

♬ King of the Hill Theme - The Refreshments

Pierre’s conclusions? First of all, the morphs “tend to

be prettier than their sources because face

asymmetries and skin blemishes average out,” and

second, “fat is not attractive.” (If you believe or agree

with that, please read up on society’s fatphobia

Feel free not to participate in the trend,

just inane fun, but some people could take it very

seriously. And that could be a real problem.

You see, even before people started comparing

themselves to a grid of fake faces, TikTok users were

already reporting that the app was warping their body

image, as NBC News reported in July.

SOURCE: TEDX TALKS/YOUTUBE

Article continues below advertisement

“When I initially downloaded TikTok, I saw a lot of

really, really negative body image videos,” Brittani

Lancaster, a TikTok body positive activist, told the

outlet. “It’s not worth it to keep seeing these posts if

it’s worsening your mental health.”

In May 2020, actress and social media star Sissy

Sheridan tweeted, “I liked my body before I

So it’s totally OK and maybe even recommended to

skip this “hot or not” trend. After all, there’s no

documentation on how this Shapeshifting effect

chooses which face to morph yours into, and frankly,

the whole “Hot or Not” conceit and the attractiveness