This is how many photos women really take before they post online

As any Instagram user will know, selecting the right image to post online is its own mini odyssey. Not only does one need to make sure the lighting is right – but also, have you considered the fact the outfit and makeup need to be right too?

And who’s taking that picture? Do they have a steady hand? Then, disaster – a friend decides to blink in the exact photo you look best in. Might as well start the whole saga over again.

Such are the trials of social media in the modern age. So is it any wonder that nine in 10 women take up to 50 photos before choosing the right one to post?

The research, which comes courtesy of beauty brand Dove, sees the brand partnering with singer Bebe Rexha to highlight the pressures of capturing the perfect photo.

It’s not just the sheer number of snaps that need to be taken, either: more than half of women admit to spending over 10 minutes deciding whether to post, share or delete a picture of themselves – which of course includes editing said images to reduce blemishes, unwelcome photobombers or the dreaded red-eye.

Six in 10 women ultimately admitted to not posting about special moments simply because they didn’t like how they looked, while one in five reported feelings of anxiety before pressing the share button.

Is this a generational thing? Well, yes. Unsurprisingly, Gen Z – that is, women aged 18-24 – take an average of 14 photos before choosing the right one. However, Gen Alpha (that’s people born in the early 2010s. How quickly they grow up!) only take an average of seven – which implies that the younger generation coming through might be setting the tone for embracing a less filtered lifestyle.

The campaign with Dove seeks to reset some of those expectations, helping women to embrace joy and celebrate the moment with the hashtag #Sharethefirst.

“Too many women avoid sharing life’s biggest moments on social media because they don’t like how they look in a photo – from graduations, weddings and birthdays – this pressure to look ‘perfect’ leads to increased levels of anxiety and Dove wants to change that,” Marcela Melero, Dove’s Chief Growth Officer explained in a statement accompanying the statistics.

“We are calling on our community to share the first photo, the one that captures joy, not perfection, demonstrating that real beauty isn’t about a flawless photo but embracing beauty on their own terms.”