You may finally be able to ditch your Finstagram for good. Instagram is testing out “favorites,” a whole new way of sharing photos with certain groups of people.
Basically, the feature allows users to have control over who sees specific posts, eradicating the need for the ever-popular finsta — secret Instagrams created mostly by teens for the purpose of sharing their real, unedited photos to a select few.
Problem is, when finstas become loaded with followers, people often end up using their secret accounts, and Instagram as a whole, less.
“People are trying to hack Instagram to create smaller audiences, and we’re trying to recognize that,” product lead Robby Stein, said according to The Verge.
The idea behind favorites is to allow people to create a group of select friends who can view certain posts — either within Stories or in their main feed, according to Instagram.
People aren’t notified when they’re added to or deleted from a user’s favorites list. However, a green favorites badge at the top of posts will let users know they’re on their friend’s favorites list. Posts that are shared only with favorites will also appear in a separate profile tab so you can keep track of which posts are private.
If you remove someone from your favorites, they won’t be able to access your private photos, even those shared while they were on your favorites list. And, nobody can request to join your favorites.
Instagram is only testing it out with a small percentage of users for now, and it’s not clear when the feature may become permanent, though an Instagram spokesperson says they will continue to test the feature and tweak as needed.
“The best version of Instagram is one where you feel closer to the people you are connected to,” Stein told The Verge.