LinkedIn's photo filters were way better than we thought they would be

Impact

When I logged onto the LinkedIn app on Wednesday, I was prompted to "boost your professional image in seconds with our new photo filters" — and what followed was an introductory video showing off how the professional social network can whitewash the hell out of you.

Melanie Ehrenkranz/LinkedIn
Melanie Ehrenkranz/LinkedIn
Melanie Ehrenkranz/LinkedIn
Melanie Ehrenkranz/LinkedIn

It's not the first time a social media company has tried to lighten the skin of its users as a standard of beauty — Snapchat has, on numerous occasions, and so did Tonr and FaceApp. I asked my colleague Xavier Harding to test out the feature to find out how intense the whitewashing was in execution. 

But we were both pleasantly surprised. Xavier toggled from filter to filter.

"Damn, I look good," he said.

Xavier Harding/LinkedIn
Xavier Harding/LinkedIn
Xavier Harding/LinkedIn
Xavier Harding/LinkedIn

While the tutorial video on the LinkedIn app screamed of yet another tech company rolling out a racist feature about to be dragged, in execution, the filters didn't whitewash —  they make you look amazing. I'd even go as far as to say the filters are better than the options afforded by the likes of Instagram and Snapchat. Maybe, could it be, they are more professional? 

While you can't save the filtered photo directly from the app (screenshot and crop, baby!), the options outshine the likes of the Valencia and Crema filters of Instagram. LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, may have finally figured out how to be relevant — by fueling our narcissism. But a word of advice for LinkedIn: You may want to edit your ignorant tutorial video.