'Tiny Gentle Asians' Instagram account posts nothing but images of cute chubby babies
An Instagram account is using pictures of adorable chubby Asian babies to rack up 55,000 ovaries. Uh, followers.
Called Tiny Gentle Asians, the page has posted more than 500 pictures of East Asian newborns and toddlers smiling, crying, playing with animals, having their big cheeks smushed, and doing otherwise cute things for the camera.
'Rolls and LOLs are definitely the two vital ingredients, founder Mel Kenny told Mashable about her recipe for a cute account.
Aww! The Twitter account Tiny Gentle Asians is full of pictures of cute East Asian babies
Collection: The pictures are mostly reposted from parents' accounts
Origins: The account was started by Mel Kenny, a Thai Australian
Mel started by posting pictures of babies she saw on the street but the account has evolved
Hollywood: She has celebrity fans including Candice Swanepoel and Chelsea Handler
She focuses on pictures that are funny or feature chubby babies with rolls
Mel, a Thai Australian who works as an editor and social media consultant, started the account with cell phone pictures of babies she saw while out and about, but has graduated to reposting pictures taken by parents.
And she pointed out that not all the pictures on her account are traditionally attractive baby pictures.
That is, the tots aren't always posed angelically with smiles on soft rugs. Sometimes they are making ridiculous faces, pouting, or crying — something she said Japanese and Korean mothers like to take pictures of.
Whatcha thinkin? Mel also adds witty captions from each baby's point of view
She explained that Japanese and Korean mothers love to take funny and unflattering pictures of their kids
Popular: Pictures on the account get thousands of likes
Some parents dress their kids up while others use funny Snapchat filters
This little girl is a cross between Waldo and Pippi Longstocking
Costumes and pajamas are also big crowd-pleasers on the account
Other snaps see babies in costumes and pajamas, getting the Snapchat filter treatment, and taking baths.
Mel also adds her own witty captions with words supposedly thought of or spoken by the babies themselves.
'Applying very silly, incongruent voices to pictures of tiny children that haven't yet formed identities is certainly the most enjoyable part for me,' she said. 'I think a portion of the audience finds the captions and the image create a funny experience, while the rest are just into the cute thing.'
Smush! There are plenty of pictures of babies having their chubby cheeks squshed
Mel tags parents of the babies she posts and says it's usually not a problem
She said that rolls are important on her page, as are funny faces
The creator thinks she probably picked Asian babies because she identifies with them
Comments occasionally make her wonder if the page was a bad idea but mostly the account just spreads happiness
That audience is now up to 55,400 people, including Chelsea Handler and Candice Swanepoel.
Though she chose to focus on Asian babies to reflect her own identity, she did admit that comments on some of the pictures do occasionally make her wonder whether the page is a problem.