From Lower East Side and Bushwick art kids in New York City, to skaters in Philadelphia and undergrads in Chicago, a new app called Posting2 is weaving together the diverse tapestry that is Gen Z—unhingedness and all.
The app, which was started in Chicago by web developer Brady Sheridan, feels like taking a time machine back to the 2010s, with thousands of users posting square photos to a chronological feed with no algorithm, overflowing with shitposts and candid shots of daily life.
Its familiar interface, borrowing from predecessors like Instagram, collides with the absence of the elements that make modern social media platforms unenjoyable today.
For 27-year-old user Molly Weinstein, Posting2’s lighthearted nature enticed her to join the app when she saw her friends using it at a party 11 weeks ago.
Weinstein—an administrative assistant to the CFO and financial team at an architecture firm—has around 36 friends on the app, she told Fast Company. She posts around three times a week as if the app were a sort of finsta or close friends.
The images don’t seem carefully framed or intentionally crafted—as they often do on platforms like Instagram. Instead, the posts share brief vignettes of daily life for Gen Z users on the platform.
For instance, one image features a dimly lit overhead shot of a puzzle in progress on a wooden table by a user called Tornado.
Another is a blurry snap of a large jar of stuffed olives, courtesy of an account called redlobster. And many more are just pixelated screengrabs of old memes and nonsensical text posts.
Most accounts there have ironic usernames, with users taking advantage of the app’s early stage—Posting2 officially launched in June—to snag usernames that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Think “tesla,” “thepope,” and, yes, someone even snagged “departmenofhomelandsecurity.”
Organic momentum, driven by word of mouth
While it’s often described along the lines of an “underground Instagram,” the social media platform is slowly and organically gaining momentum.
Internal data shared with Fast Company revealed the app wrapped up its beta phase with around 1,600 users in April, quickly rising to 36,671 unique users as of October 21.
Posting2 declined to comment.
The app has a website sharing its monthly support versus costs and a merch store, yet little to no other online presence. Most users join by word of mouth, persuaded by positive reviews.
“Takes you back to a time in social media with zero celebrity presence, zero advertisements, zero people posting for algorithm optimization, etc. just good clean fun,” one user said in their app review.
Another added, “this platform is really honest and refreshing. Makes me feel like I can calmly share and experience content with my friends without all the extra noise and rapidity of current-day social media norms.”
The app also stands out for its democratic approach to development, with the founder polling users on what types of updates to implement.
Posting2’s official account, called “app,” will post screengrabs from notes app messages, announcing changes to the app and asking users to contribute ideas in the comment.
The app’s popularity ramped up after the summer. According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, around a third of Posting2’s lifetime installs happened during September alone—when the app was downloaded 8,000 times.
Just that same month, the downloads increased 42% month-over-month, driven by users in the U.S., Australia, and Canada.
The numbers translate to real life as well, Weinstein noted.
“I have another friend who can recognize strangers when we’re at a bar like, Oh, they’re on posting2!” she says. “It’s definitely grown exponentially over the past few weeks, and I realized that when I overheard a stranger at a movie theater talk about Posting2 last week.”
Just what we need
Despite the prevalence of app fatigue—frustration from having too many apps—a general pushback on digital platforms, and younger people opting for analog alternatives, it is perhaps unsurprising that Posting2 has nevertheless won over the hearts of thousands of young users.
The app is as analog as social media can be. Tapping into elements of the glamorized 2016-era—the same year that Instagram introduced its algorithm and stories.
Absent of much of what defines social media today, the app becomes nothing more than a repository of random images shared with friends. It is digital, yes, but analog in spirit.
There have been other relatively recent attempts to bring simplicity back to social media. BeReal exploded in popularity in the summer of 2022 in part due to a feature that prompted users to post only once a day. The platform was acquired by a mobile games and apps developer in 2024.
How long can a good thing last?
For Posting2, the appeal might also be the app’s own achilles’ heel, with users starting to worry about the platform’s longevity and authenticity, noting that as the user base continues to grow, the user experience is shifting.
“It seems to have grown to the point so that I’ll garner follow requests or comments from total strangers I do not care about,” Weinstein says. “Posting2 needs to decide what it wants to be and if they want to stay committed to the intimate feel.”
She added, “I feel like it’s going to crash and burn and the novelty will wear out. I’ve had a friend predict it will go the way of BeReal and I agree.”
