If seeing seemingly perfect celebrities on your Instagram and TikTok feeds make you contemplate cosmetic procedures, you’re definitely not alone. In fact, the algorithm has an impact on celebrities, too—but not in the way you may think. Imagine if you were doomscrolling and you saw someone using the greenscreen feature to pick apart your very own face. That’s what happened to Troye Sivan, and he admits in a new Substack post that it really got under his skin.
In a post titled “feeling a bit uggo (ugly),” Sivan shares that he, like so many people, has long struggled with body image; he vacillates between body positivity and wanting to do something about the signs of aging he’s been noticing after turning 30. He looked into under-eye fat transfer, he says, and, “I’ve also heard I’m in the ideal window to start ‘baby botox.’ How does that look on men? I really don’t want that frozen look, but I do notice my ‘elevens’ are starting to show even when I’m not frowning.”
And perhaps pushing the needle a little closer to… well… needles: a content creator and aesthetic practitioner in London who goes by Dr. Zayn. “What good is money and modern medicine if not to fix all of these flaws that this random sicko fucko plastic surgeon told me I have in an Instagram reel?” Sivan writes, linking out to a now-removed post in which the content creator (who is not a board-certified plastic surgeon by the UK’s standards) says that Sivan has “problem areas” on his face, like “shadows, valleys, and folds,” that make him appear older than he is. Um… ouch?
To make matters worse, Sivan writes, “My all-knowing, eternally and deeply evil algorithm saw the opportunity in this moment of vulnerability, and pulled every lever and dialled every knob to 1000. I saw video after video of deep plane facelift recoveries, and ads for unapproved GLP-1 meds that now come in pill form … I hit the ‘not interested’ button a few times and hoped for the best.”
Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting cosmetic procedures, but that desire should come without undue influence, and definitely without someone publicly scrutinizing your face because they see celebrities as fair targets. (For the record, Sivan clarified in a post-mortem correction that Dr. Zayn removed his post and apologized. “No hard feelings from my side whatsoever,” Sivan says.)
So, when faced with a decision, will Sivan proceed with a procedure or continue aging as-is? “I’m embarrassed to say, but I can’t make any promises,” he writes. “I’m patient with myself, and understand and respect both approaches. It’s us vs species-endingly-insatiable corporate greed, with access to addictive brainwashing technology.”
May we all be as patient and tuned into the influences as he is.
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