Ah, Finstagram. Also known as the epitome of the common television trope “the good, the bad and the ugly,” Finsta is the combination of the words “fake” and “Instagram” and refers to the trend of users creating secondary Instagram accounts to post content ranging from raw and unedited to flat out humiliating — for close family and friends’ eyes only, of course. If your primary Instagram account — or “Rinsta,” AKA your real Instagram — is the highlight reel, then your Finsta is most definitely the lowlight reel. Let’s consider five compelling reasons why Finsta is the best way to use Instagram.
1. A little self-deprecation never killed nobody
There’s nothing more refreshing than scrolling through someone’s Finsta full of ridiculous poses and makeup-free selfies. It helps humanize the social media experience: in real life, we aren’t always as blemish-free and blissful as we appear in photos on our carefully curated profiles. Not even close.
2. You can vent about petty problems
Whether we admit it or not, we can all be petty sometimes. I’d be lying if I said I never complained about my self-induced homework woes, physical appearance, mediocre flirting skills, the weather or the annoying strangers I come into contact with too frequently. I choose to look at it this way: if I don’t have an outlet for all the pettiness deep inside me, it’ll consequently become a known character trait of mine. That’s how it works, right? (Maybe not.)
3. You can embarrass your loved ones
Candid pictures of your friends and unflattering videos of your siblings are the best, and they’re almost guaranteed to make your followers laugh. We’re all weird. Life’s too short to not embrace the weirdness.
4. You don’t need to worry about likes
In my humble opinion, Instagram should be a tool for posting memories without needing to focus on who likes them or how many people like them, but I know — it’s hard to approach social media this way when the likes are an integral reason why it’s such an attractive app. Creating a Finsta has helped me change my perspective; I’m not posting for validation of my appearance and reputation, I’m posting because I enjoy amusing other people. In a way, Finsta is kind of empowering.
5. You can give (real) life updates
Rinsta is where you take hot selfies complete with impeccable lighting and all the right angles to finally hit “share” supplemented with the groundbreaking caption “life is good.” But Finsta is where you post about all the brownies you ate at midnight, all of the mistakes you’ve recently made, and all of your ignored responsibilities. Your loyal followers (fans?) deserve to know the truth. It’ll make them feel better about themselves, too.
Images: 1, all other images courtesy of the author