What is TikTok's Hot or Not challenge? Composite image trend explored

Social media users are using a filter to find out if they are "hot or not." The latest trend uses an "attractive face scale" along with a viral shapeshifting filter to rate the user's facial features on TikTok. While the filters and scales are far from being accurate, netizens love to try them and create fun videos.

TikTok and Instagram feature a plethora of filters that can transform users into different personalities. From movie celebrities to Disney princesses, users can find their doppelgangers with just the click of a button.

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The "hot or not" challenge rates each face out of 10

The composite image sheet used in the "hot or not" challenge (Image via @aa_aa__/TikTok)

The challenge uses "Shape Shift," a viral filter that has been a part of numerous other trends in the past. Most of these trends use a collage of different faces that can vary from movie stars to anime characters. Users let the filter decide who they look closest to for the fun of it.

The latest version of the trend uses a composite image sheet created by Flickr user, Pierre Tourigny. The sheet is made up of more than one face compiled on top of each other. Each picture is ranked from one to ten. The filter blends the user's face into the face with which they share the most similarities with to decide whether they’re "hot or not."

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How to take part in the trend?

To take part in the trend, users first need to download and save the aforementioned composite image sheet. They can then move on to the following steps:

1. Open TikTok and go to the "Discovery" tab.
2. In the search bar, type "Shape Shift."
3. After finding the filter, press the pink Record button next to the filter, followed by "Try this effect."
4. Select the saved "composite image sheet" from the phone's gallery and record it with the camera towards the face.

The filter will show a countdown of three and then blend the face with one of the pictures in the collage. It keeps selecting the same picture for a face, irrespective of how many times it is used. So, trying again for a better score is, unfortunately, not viable.

Since the filter does not come with a built-in sound, users have opted for King of The Hill Theme by The Refreshments as the unofficial background music for the trend. Hashtags like #shapeshifter and #hotornot are used while uploading these TikTok videos. The image used in the trend only features female faces, so men are getting creative and using collages of different male faces to get a similar result.