The company was first spotted developing the Flipside feature in 2023. However, at that time, Instagram said it was only an internal prototype.
According to a report by TechCrunch, Mosseri said that the company will now begin testing the feature with users to see how they respond.
He also noted that a test doesn’t mean the feature will launch publicly. Meta has also confirmed that the feature is in testing.
What are finstas?
Instagram’s younger demographic has used finstas for a long time but it entered the broader public conversation in 2021. During a congressional hearing, US Senator Richard Blumenthal asked a Meta executive about whether the company would “commit to ending finsta.”
This feature created confusion as people who are in the position of regulating technology didn’t fully understand how it works.
Meta’s head of safety Antigone Davis tried to explain that finstas are not an Instagram feature. Instead, they’re a private account that’s intended for Close Friends only. These accounts are also used as a way to avoid parental oversight on social media platforms.
Blumenthal asked about more specifics and wanted to know about how easy it is for kids to set up separate accounts outside of the reach of Instagram’s built-in parental controls.
By turning the “finsta” into a feature associated with a user’s main account Instagram may allow them to swipe down on a profile to be “flipped” to the other, more private “side”.
Instagram is expected to have a better knowledge on the age of the user creating the separate account. The company is likely to connect the existing profile to the new, more private one.
This suggests that Instagram may even leverage its age-verification tools to classify users via their main account. The platform may then have those settings translated to their associated Flipside or finsta.
What the company has to say about the Flipside feature
Replying to a user who asked for a version of Flipside for Instagram’s Threads app instead, Mosseri took to the company’s micro-blogging site and wrote: “We’re not even sure we’ll launch it on Instagram.”
Mosseri added: “On one hand it feels good to create a clear space that feels more private. On the other hand, it’s yet another way to reach a smaller audience on top of secondary accounts and Close Friends. We’ll see how people respond in the test, and iterate forward,”
Another Instagram spokesperson said: “We’re always working on new ways to help people connect with friends on Instagram. We heard people want more options for sharing in private spaces, so are excited to start testing a new feature where you can create a custom profile, including a custom name, bio and photo and share exclusive content with a smaller group of followers.”
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