Seen At 11: Plastic Surgery Is The Latest Trend Taking Over Snapchat
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Social media leaves no stone unturned and now it's even venturing inside the operating room.
CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez revealed how surgical procedures of the most personal nature are being Snapchatted for all the world to see.
It's the latest trend in Snapchatting: plastic surgery.
"Hey there everybody, happy Tuesday! It's Dr. Schulman here, back for another exciting day in the operating room," Dr. Matthew Schulman says on a Snapchat story. "I'm going to scrub in -- just another typical day in the operating room."
Ten-second videos and images of actual surgeries are shared in the Snapchat app, and then disappear after 24 hours.
"I have people either just interested in plastic surgery and they are viewing it essentially as a reality television show. Then I have people interested in plastic surgery and researching," Schulman told CBS2.
According to Dr. Schulman, a New York City plastic surgeon, a lot of people are watching. He claims about half a million views a day.
"We act the same. We act professional and respect our patients who are asleep and in their most vulnerable state," he said.
The contents can be graphic, but Schulman said it helps demystify procedures for those who are curious or are considering anything from a laser peel to breast implants for themselves.
"The surgeries educate. Be engaging, and the entertainment value will come along with it," he said.
And while one female patient consented to have her liposuction and butt-lift Snapchatted, she can still remain anonymous.
"For me to see myself and them doing it on me, I'm really excited to see that," the unidentified patient said.
Patient Danyel Devoe said watching Snapchatted procedures gave her the courage to get what she wanted done.
"I don't think if I hadn't seen all those things, that I would have had the guts to go through with it," she said. "It kind of gave me that spark that I needed to say, OK, all these other women in the world are doing it. Why not me? Why not try?"
Psychologist Dr. Barbara Greenberg said we may have crossed a privacy line.
"People are fascinated by surgery, people are fascinated by physicality, people are fascinated by anything that's transformative. I think that the pendulum has swung too far, and that we are too public about things. But I think we have to find a middle ground," she said.
If ten-second snap chat video clips of surgery weren't enough, the first ever live-stream of a plastic surgery procedure was on Facebook just Tuesday. A reported 30,000 people watched live, and since then, there have been nearly a million views so far.
