A Trend That’s Scared Lots Of TikTok Users: The Aging Filter

TikTok trends can occasionally become boring, and a few can actually be harmful. However, most are either funny or fun for both viewers and participants.

One trend that originated in the summer of 2023 doesn’t fall into any of those categories, at least for many users who have discovered that it can be downright frightening. 

July 2023 is when the social media platform introduced its “aged” filter, and a trend quickly emerged. Millions of TikTok users used the filter to alter their videos, and many were horrified by what they saw.

What is the TikTok Aged Filter?

Filters are popular features available in the app’s editing suite. There are hundreds available, and they can be applied to change the look and aesthetic of a video by altering its color, tone, and contrast. TikTok filters can be added for many reasons, but they’re generally used to make the people featured in content look better.

The Aged filter, known more popularly as the “aging” filter, is an exception. It adds prominent, visible signs of aging to the face(s) shown in the video to make people appear much older. The sagging skin, wrinkles, and other common effects of aging are meant to theoretically show what a user would look like decades from now.

The filter became a big deal soon after its release, but not always because people found the videos it produced “funny” or “fun.” Many enjoyed being able to visualize their future selves, but a large number of users who applied the filter to one of their videos were horrified by the results.

As it turns out, seeing yourself looking like an old person isn’t always fun. It can be really scary.

Is the TikTok Aging Filter Accurate?

In a word, no. The crow’s feet, wrinkles, saggy skin, and gray hair it adds to users’ videos are common signs of aging, but there’s no way for artificial intelligence (the aged filter uses AI to create its renderings) to consider peoples’ overall health, genetics, diets, and lifestyles when “predicting” what they will look like many years from now.

If you choose to use the filter, remember this: not even artists, geneticists, or other experts can tell you with any certainty what effects of aging you will experience. The TikTok Aged filter is meant for entertainment purposes only; if you feel that you might be alarmed at what you see, it’s best to avoid using it or watching “aged” videos created by your friends or family members.

If you decide that you want to take it for a spin, though, here’s how to do it.

Using the TikTok Aged Filter

You apply the aging filter just like any other you might use to enhance the videos you produce.

Tap the “+” icon in the middle of the screen, choose the length of video you want to create, and hit the “Record” button to start filming. When done, hit the checkmark to the right of the screen to enter the “Editing” suite. Click the “Effects” icon (three circles) on the right-hand menu, and find the “Aged” filter in the popup. You’ll see a preview of what you look like.

Once you’ve seen your aged image, it’s up to you whether you want to post it to share with the rest of TikTok, or if you’d rather just delete the video — and try to forget that you ever saw it.