--- description: Instagram announced Monday that it’s finally adding the ability to switch between multiple accounts without having to log out. title: Instagram’s Newest Feature Is a Bigger Deal Than It Seems image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd0da4d37af14d0b/69877890524fc03955debc1e/iphone-social-apps-instagram.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Instagram’s Newest Feature Is a Bigger Deal Than It Seems ## Video: This Is What the Future of Instagram Looks Like [Watch (HLS stream): This Is What the Future of Instagram Looks Like](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tIyzRJcR.m3u8) (2:55)  _Published 2015-10-01. As Instagram turns 5, the co-founder and CEO talks about where the app is headed_ by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 9, 2016 4:49 PM CUT  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 9, 2016 4:49 PM CUT Instagram [announced](http://blog.instagram.com/post/138938416772/160208-accountswitching "undefined") Monday that it’s finally adding a much-desired feature: The ability to switch between multiple accounts without having to log out. The photo-sharing app’s new functionality is an obvious boon for the social media managers of the world. But it’s likely to see adoption from Instagram’s everyday users as well, as there’s a [growing contingent](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/11/the-rise-of-finstagram/416595/ "undefined") of people actively living double lives on the platform. For some of Instagram’s youngest users, maintaining the carefully edited, jealousy-inducing persona that a successful Instagram account requires—every post showing you living your best possible life—has become tiring. So they have taken to creating fake Instagrams, or “finstagrams,” which are private accounts not tied to their real names. You only share your finstagram account with your closest friends, so you have the freedom to share pictures that are not agonizingly framed to get the maximum number of likes. “You post things you wouldn’t want people other than your friends to see, like unattractive pictures, random stories about your day and drunk pictures from parties,” Amy Wesson, an 18-year-old Trinity College student, [told T_he New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/fashion/instagram-finstagram-fake-account.html "undefined") last fall. The spontaneity and freedom of a finstagram is similar to the vibe of Facebook in its early days, before the [parents invaded](http://business.time.com/2013/05/25/teens-tire-of-facebook-but-not-enough-to-log-off/ "undefined"), or Snapchat, whose disappearing photos encourage a certain level of visual honesty. ### Stacy Kranitz Is TIME's Instagram Photographer of 2015  Butterfly in Dani's hair just before I saw my first rattlesnake. Whitesville, WV @stacykranitz  Logan, West Virginia @stacykranitz  Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C. @stacykranitz  Pikeville, Ky. @stacykranitz  Lost Hills/Paso Robles, Calif. @stacykranitz  Grand Canyon, Ariz. @stacykranitz  Dupont Belle, W.Va. @stacykranitz  Hambidge, Ga. @stacykranitz  Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C. @stacykranitz  Rutland, Ohio @stacykranitz  Stuff. City of Maryville, Tenn. @stacykranitz  Cherokee, N.C. @stacykranitz  Skatopia, Ohio @stacykranitz  Hatfield and McCoy Bed and Breakfast, Williamson, W.Va. @stacykranitz  Carvers Gap, Roan Mountain Road, N.C. @stacykranitz  West Columbia, W.Va. @stacykranitz  West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Charleston W.Va. @stacykranitz  Logan, West Virgina @stacykranitz  Logan, West Virginia @stacykranitz  Boone County, W.Va. @stacykranitz  West Columbia, W.Va. @stacykranitz  Country Corner Cafe, W.Va. @stacykranitz  7-Eleven, Los Angeles, Calif. @stacykranitz  South Bluefield, W.Va. @stacykranitz  Logan, W.Va. @stacykranitz  Pine Mountain, Ky. @stacykranitz  Santa Rosa, N.M. @stacykranitz  Matewan, W.Va. @stacykranitz  Mingo Central Football Stadium, Matewan, W.Va. Opening night of the football season for the Miners at Mingo Central High School. The whole school is built on a former Massey strip mine.  Bell's Cove, Asheville, N.C. @stacykranitz  Cherokee, North Carolina @stacykranitz  East Beckley, W.Va. @stacykranitz  West Columbia, W.Va. @stacykranitz  Castroville, Calif. @stacykranitz  Hambidge, Ga. @stacykranitz  Hambidge, Ga. @stacykranitz  Boone County, W.Va. @stacykranitz Is this a change that will massively increase Instagram’s user base? Probably not. But it’s likely to keep teens more satisfied with the platform and less likely to grow restless and move on to the next hot social app. Now they’ll have the best of both worlds: a place to show off and a place to communicate intimately with friends. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4213968/instagram-account-switching/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4213968/instagram-account-switching/"},"headline":"Instagram’s Newest Feature Is a Bigger Deal Than It Seems","datePublished":"2016-02-09T16:49:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:08.478Z","description":"Account switching will help users leading double lives","url":"https://time.com/4213968/instagram-account-switching/","keywords":["Tech","Social Media","Instagram"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd0da4d37af14d0b/69877890524fc03955debc1e/iphone-social-apps-instagram.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd0da4d37af14d0b/69877890524fc03955debc1e/iphone-social-apps-instagram.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Social Apps iPhone Instagram","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Social Apps iPhone Instagram","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4213968/instagram-account-switching/","name":"Instagram’s Newest Feature Is a Bigger Deal Than It Seems"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Is What the Future of Instagram Looks Like","description":"As Instagram turns 5, the co-founder and CEO talks about where the app is headed","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tIyzRJcR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-01T14:01:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tIyzRJcR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4213968/instagram-account-switching/","duration":"PT2M55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4213968/instagram-account-switching/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```