“Chinning” All Around The World, Woman became viral on Instagram by doing this pose

Like pretty much every other person around the world, I am obsessed with Instagram. I have eschewed indulging in other popular apps such as Snapchat, because I crave that instant gratification after uploading a photo! Showcasing off my life, raking in the likes, and most importantly, selecting the best hashtags that will guarantee me more followers. I completely recognize how silly it is, but I can’t help take it all so seriously.

The thing with photo-sharing apps that constantly encourage you to narcissistically present pictures of your “amazing” life, is that it can be difficult to avoid developing a reliance on it.

But let’s face it, are the people who constantly showcase their supposedly fantastic lives to their followers really all that content with themselves? It takes an exhausting amount of time to craft the perfect photo, complete with the most suitable filter and the most striking pose, and to be honest, it’s a colossal waste of time.

So one Instagram user by the name of Michelle Liu has decided to take a stand against the beauty standards that apps such as Instagram have imposed on us, using her very own Instagram account @chinventures.

The 21-year-old student posts snaps of herself sticking her chin out towards the camera, which has the amusing effect of distorting her face in a very comical manner. Michelle has affectionately referred to the practice as “chinning”, and aims to bring an end to the image of perfection that social media often encourages us to aspire to.

Michelle started the account when she began studying abroad in Vienna in the fall of 2016. She then decided to keep going with her amusing hobby and now does it in every country she visits.

However, as it turns out, the 21-year-old student has actually been chinning for years. “My chinning entertained my friends all through middle school, high school and college, at which point I decided to share my chin with the world,” she explained.

Michelle began chinning because she felt that “looking silly” in photos helped her to avoid surrendering to the pressure of “looking a certain way” on social media. The hobby has helped her to overcome the insecurity she used to feel when taking photos throughout middle and high school.

Like any true photographer, Michelle needs her trusty equipment to help her take the fun-loving snaps. She uses her iPhone and has a selfie stick allowing her to adjust the angles and really emphasize the absurdity of the pose.

“Strangers always notice me chinning,” she said. “Some appear shocked, others confused, but across the board from my experience, they are usually entertained.”

Michelle also revealed that her favorite chinning photo was taken with four flight attendants: “I never know how strangers will respond when I explain my account and ask them to take ‘chinfies’ with me, but this particular crew was so friendly and open to the idea.”

While Michelle jokingly claims that she aspires to be “chinsta-famous”, there’s no doubt that these light-hearted snaps don’t take up anywhere near as much time as the perfectly filtered photos that I used to take did. Not only do they showcase her down-to-earth personality, but they’re enough to put a smile on any Instagram user’s face when scrolling through their feed.