【Sigad Sharaf】

You've been posting "plandids" for years and Sigad Sharafyou didn't even know it.

Tipped to be the hottest Insta trend of the summer, this newly coined term actually describes a pretty well-established Instagram practice that many of us have been doing for yonks.

SEE ALSO: 'Finstas' can be boring or funny or sexy — but they're always real

So, what exactly areplandids? The word is a portmanteau of "planned" and "candid," which kinda sounds like a contradiction in terms. The idea is to post "as if you didn't know the picture was being taken, but you're still posing," according to Instagrammer Maria Gillett.

"Kind of like you've been caught in the act of looking good in an 'off duty model' sort of way," Gillett adds.

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Fashion and beauty Instagram blogger A La Mol says she'd been "accidentally" doing them long before she heard the term "plandid" online from another influencer. She describes the trend as an attempt to achieve "that infamous candid look Instagram models seem to always nail."

It's unclear precisely who coined the term but a quick Instagram search will show you more than 500 plandids of people trying to nail that nonchalant look. You'll see a stream of people looking oh-so-casually at the ground, or gazing into the horizon. Others will be mid-prance with a hand cocked to a jaunty angle. "Oh, I didn't even realise you were taking a photo," is the aesthetic.

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So, why is this trend so popular? Gillett thinks people love taking plandids because "people don't like to look like they're making too much effort."

"Because it's meant to look like somebody else took the photo while you weren't looking, it kind of gives the person an excuse for putting up the photo, without looking really vain and contrived," says Gillett.

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But, just how newis this purportedly new trend? Professional photographer Ronald Timehin says the word plandid is basically a "new term for an already existing concept." He says in his line of work he's often "directing people to move, stand or pose in a certain way" with the aim of making the final image look as "natural as possible."

"This is nothing new as photographers and models have been doing this for years, before social media was even a thing," says Timehin.

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So, how do we take a good plandid? Timehin says the best way to take a good plandid is to make the person physically move. "Then shoot using burst mode, capturing all the little intricate details of the expression, rather than a static often forced pose," he says.

A La Mol says that she tends to look down for "that 'I didn't realise there was a camera' look."

"I then just take a million (not even exaggerating) photos while I'm moving to capture that specific 'casual' moment."

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Don't even try to deny it: we have all taken and posted plandids on our Instagrams. And, why shouldn't we -- they look cute as hell. Perhaps, by adding the #plandid hashtag, you're actually being more real with your followers.

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