Our eyes and brains compensate for a lot of things that cameras do not. White balance is a good one, where things indoor under warm lighting can look orange while things out in the sunlight can look blue.
I think perspective and distance correction with human faces is definitely one of those. So if you got the distance from the mirror correct, the effect might not jump out at you in person like it does with photos.
mirrors don't really show you candidly in profile too, you gotta bend weird to see the side of your body and you can't really see the side of your head. I saw a candid profile photo of me once and realized I was way fatter than I thought I was and had shit posture. I've lost weight since but my posture is still real bad. I got fuckin nerd neck!!
You're just not used to seeing yourself like you really look. A mirror image is not the real you, but a mirror image. So to others, you probably look like you do, when you look in the mirror.
Nobody likes the sound of their own voice when they hear a recording for the first time. Because we are used to our voice vibrating our upper body and skull .
I hope this can make somebody feel better about themselves.
Try flipping the image, our faces and expressions aren't perfectly symetrical. That being said, if you like it then flip it back before posting it. People are used to seeing you, not the flipped version you're used to seeing... There's some evidence that zoomers aren't as bothered by this because a sizable chunk use their ph9nes as mirrors and take more photos for Snapchat and similar apps.
Huh, it's the other way around for me. Anyone feel the same?
And my general view of how I look is much worse than what everyone else seems to see. If I go fully by my own view I'd say I look about average, I'm comfortable with how I look but I wouldn't say it's anything of note, but apparently people see something else. I get compliments from random people all the time, everything from my physical features to my style, and I never understood why. I have agoraphobia and general social anxiety so I'd love to be able to go outside and get groceries or whatever and just be left alone like most other people but about a third of the time when I leave my apartment some random person(s) give me compliments. I won't deny that I appreciate it in some ways, more or less depending on the situation and how I feel but it often triggers my anxiety and most of the time I'd like it not to happen.
I'm a 35yo dude BTW, not some good looking young woman (which people have guessed other times when I've mentioned it).
What's worse is when the top is your self image, that you imagine others see, and the bottom being picture or mirror or whatever that shows the reality.