Ever wanted to showcase your ugly photos, most embarrassing moments, and strange humor online, but only to your besties? Well, now you can! Finstagram--also known as “Finsta”--is taking the mobile photography app Instagram to a whole new level. 

Users of the app are creating secondary profiles (separate from their well-crafted, aesthetically pleasing, and meticulously thought-out “real” profiles) to create a place to share what’s really going on behind the filters and fluffy quotes. Typically formed with punny usernames and a humorous profile picture, these "Finstas" free up users to post whatever they feel like without fear of judgement from the outside world. 

By setting your profile to private, you choose who gets to see you. And no need to sweat about getting enough likes--that, my friend, is not a thing here. Wish hashtags were still accepted by the general public? Have no fear. On this side of Insta, the more hashtags the better--and the funnier the better. It’s like your own digital journal.

Today, Mary Margaret, 20, still spends time curating her original Instagram--but she gets more use out of her Finsta, ifiwasyouidwannabemarm2. If you didn’t catch that, that’s “If I Was You I’d Want To Be Marm 2”--punned after the most recent Meghan Trainor single.

Mary Margaret’s true Insta, insta_marm, has close to 650 followers, whereas her Finsta has a minimal 47 followers. As I said previously, Finstagram is a place for close friends, inside jokes and double chins.

Pictured above is Nicki, 20, posting a traditional face-swap to her beloved Finsta.

With Finstagram, there is no pressure. No need to worry about whether or not you’re posting too frequently. Post four selfies in a row--we don’t mind! Who cares if the shirt you’re wearing makes you look like a human box; post and embrace. There is absolutely nothing holding you back.

Be the comedy king or queen you always wanted to be. Create a Finsta and accept the fact that your fake Instagram will probably be more real than your real one ever was. Happy posting! #finsta #adolescentcontent

Images obtained with permission by Shannon Pires
Cover Image by Hana Haley