Achieving your best self: How socio-economic variation and cultural values shape digital beauty trends

Abstract

Selfie editing is a widespread practice in digital self-presentation, particularly on East Asian social media, where beauty ideals are shaped by cultural, economic, and global influences. This study examines how individuals modify their appearance in response to local beauty and broader digital norms, analyzing posts and metadata from Rednote. Focusing on posts featuring pre- and post-editing comparisons, we collected a dataset comprising over 80,000 selfies and quantified key facial modifications and their associations with socioeconomic variations. Our findings indicate that edits frequently emphasize baby schema traits, such as enlarged eyes and softened facial contours, reinforcing their role in digital beauty standards. Furthermore, a persistent preference for lighter skin tones reflects enduring cultural ideals in Chinese beauty norms. Notably, the intensity of these edits is inversely correlated with regional economic development, suggesting that identity construction, social capital and expectation, and global beauty influences shape editing behaviors. This study contributes to the understanding of digital self-presentation by illustrating how global beauty ideals, particularly baby schema, are selectively adapted within specific cultural and economic contexts. These findings have implications for social media platforms, digital marketing strategies, and media practices, offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of beauty standards in online spaces.