At some point in May of this year, everyone seemed to get a lot sadder. Everyone suddenly seemed to be over tears on social media. Terrible crying faces populated every platform.
Yes, the world is in bad shape these days, but the real reason everyone looked so upset was because of a brand-new filter that caused a stir. The sad eyes filter was just the latest hit from creative technologist Ollie Tyler.
When you think of the biggest social media influencers, the names Salt Bae, Scumbag Dad, and PewDiePie might come to mind. Behind these influencers, however, lies the massive influence of technological trends, which offer creatives a new tool.
The invisible influencer
Tyler may not be a famous face, although he has a not unimpressive 100,000 followers on TikTok. However, the filters he created have certainly made their mark.
The origin of the sad eyes filter is actually a sound clip from an episode of the British children’s television show “The Story of Tracy Beaker.”
In the clip, Tracy claims she doesn’t cry and only suffers from hay fever.
“It’s the perfect time for augmented reality,” Tyler thought and watched the clip. “I had already clarified the sound and then I took over the image of Brendan Fraser crying.”
“After I posted it on TikTok, it kind of worked with the algorithm,” Tyler recalls.
Getting a hit filter is both an art and a science, explains Tyler. He began managing brand campaigns for major clients before turning to working on his own augmented reality filters. The first filters he designed were “yes or no” filters, where each side of the screen is tinted in color and allows you to respond to prompts to see if you recognize a song.
“That was my first experiment to identify a trend or something I saw in the TikTok algorithm and try to link that to an AR filter,” says Tyler.
Other tricks include making sure the filter hits the seven-second mark, which supposedly increases your chances of getting a viral hit.
“With TikTok, it’s so important to connect your filters to trends and sounds because it’s really a platform for trends. It’s not about individual people or who you follow. It’s more about following these waves and cycles of emerging trends,” he says.
The success of the filters has meant that Tyler was able to focus full-time on developing AR filters and creative technologies. Tyler divides his time between the UK and the USA and has worked on a blonde filter, a red flag filter, and other trends.
He also founded tnySocial, a platform that allows brands to create their own randomization filters without having to hire a dedicated developer.
Filters for fun
Creating filters is a fun hobby that Tyler has made an entire career out of. But is there anything taboo about what he would turn into a filter?
“I try to avoid anything that concerns the beauty and body dysmorphia of filters,” he says.
“I have the feeling that with Generation Z and social media, we’re constantly consuming FaceApps and facial images of people that aren’t really accurate. I think it really affects people’s mental health.”
“It’s not great when people are constantly seeing things that enable them to have plastic surgery and that look completely unrealistic. That’s why I stay away from it completely. I don’t want anything to do with this side of AR that worsens the mental health of the next generation.”
Tyler’s latest project is called Tapaday. It’s an app that’s based on BeReal, but instead of giving users a shared moment to take a snapshot of their day, it offers its users a random video game every day to try and compete with their friends.
“You see a lot of people complaining online that they want to play this game, but they don’t have 10 hours to get involved. It’s a tiny 60-second mini-game every day,” Tyler explains.
“It’s another fun way to stay connected with friends.”
At some point in May of this year, everyone seemed to get a lot sadder. Everyone suddenly seemed to be over tears on social media. Terrible crying faces populated every platform.
Yes, the world is in bad shape these days, but the real reason everyone looked so upset was because of a brand-new filter that caused a stir. The sad eyes filter was just the latest hit from creative technologist Ollie Tyler.
When you think of the biggest social media influencers, the names Salt Bae, Scumbag Dad, and PewDiePie might come to mind. Behind these influencers, however, lies the massive influence of technological trends, which offer creatives a new tool.
The invisible influencer
Tyler may not be a famous face, although he has a not unimpressive 100,000 followers on TikTok. However, the filters he created have certainly made their mark.
The origin of the sad eyes filter is actually a sound clip from an episode of the British children’s television show “The Story of Tracy Beaker.”
In the clip, Tracy claims she doesn’t cry and only suffers from hay fever.
“It’s the perfect time for augmented reality,” Tyler thought and watched the clip. “I had already clarified the sound and then I took over the image of Brendan Fraser crying.”
“After I posted it on TikTok, it kind of worked with the algorithm,” Tyler recalls.
Getting a hit filter is both an art and a science, explains Tyler. He began managing brand campaigns for major clients before turning to working on his own augmented reality filters. The first filters he designed were “yes or no” filters, where each side of the screen is tinted in color and allows you to respond to prompts to see if you recognize a song.
“That was my first experiment to identify a trend or something I saw in the TikTok algorithm and try to link that to an AR filter,” says Tyler.
Other tricks include making sure the filter hits the seven-second mark, which supposedly increases your chances of getting a viral hit.
“With TikTok, it’s so important to connect your filters to trends and sounds because it’s really a platform for trends. It’s not about individual people or who you follow. It’s more about following these waves and cycles of emerging trends,” he says.
The success of the filters has meant that Tyler was able to focus full-time on developing AR filters and creative technologies. Tyler divides his time between the UK and the USA and has worked on a blonde filter, a red flag filter, and other trends.
He also founded tnySocial, a platform that allows brands to create their own randomization filters without having to hire a dedicated developer.
Filters for fun
Creating filters is a fun hobby that Tyler has made an entire career out of. But is there anything taboo about what he would turn into a filter?
“I try to avoid anything that concerns the beauty and body dysmorphia of filters,” he says.
“I have the feeling that with Generation Z and social media, we’re constantly consuming FaceApps and facial images of people that aren’t really accurate. I think it really affects people’s mental health.”
“It’s not great when people are constantly seeing things that enable them to have plastic surgery and that look completely unrealistic. That’s why I stay away from it completely. I don’t want anything to do with this side of AR that worsens the mental health of the next generation.”
Tyler’s latest project is called Tapaday. It’s an app that’s based on BeReal, but instead of giving users a shared moment to take a snapshot of their day, it offers its users a random video game every day to try and compete with their friends.
“You see a lot of people complaining online that they want to play this game, but they don’t have 10 hours to get involved. It’s a tiny 60-second mini-game every day,” Tyler explains.
“It’s another fun way to stay connected with friends.”