According to Urban Dictionary, a Finsta is, “a fake Intsagram account, so one can post ratchet pictures without persecution from sororities, jobs and society as a whole.”
The first time I had ever heard about a Finsta was from my good friend, Jess. About 9 months ago, she mentioned this thing called a Finsta, I had no idea what she was talking about. I followed her second account on Instagram, and I found that it was just an array of funny pictures that would otherwise ruin her current and real Instagram aesthetic. Yet, I didn’t choose to hop on the banwagon for some time after this discovery.
It wasn’t until this past summer when I got home from my travels that I made plans to meet up with Jess and her friend in New York. We spent the day together, and by the end, they had convinced me to join them in this phenonmenon. So I made an account. I used a stupid name and started posting. I was on the train home when I made my first post. As you can see above this is a rather mild post. Some are not as tame. I have uglier pictures. This is just an example that would affect my social media presence and wouldn’t go along with my real Insta aesthetic.
It was great to have. Throughout the summer I posted great pictures and showed my friends at home. I had made a mistake and showed it to my mother, and when she requested to followed me, I had to say no. It’s not the type of platform that can help my mom understand my weird posts. My posts were not just pictures, but I would write short stories too. I had a lot of free time.
However since I came back to school, my Finsta goes through droughts. Sometimes I won’t post for weeks, and other times I’ll post three times a day. The phenomena of the Finsta is growing rapidly. I didn’t tell people about my account when I got back to school because I didn’t know if it was the cool thing to do or have.
As I got to talking to people, I found that many students, in particular female students, have a Finsta. They love it. You’ll hear conversation in class about what that had posted the night prior and how outrageous. It’s almost like their little secret that they can post these stupid pictures and get praised rather than judged.
There are no rules when it come to Finstas, and I think that’s the joy of them. On social media, so many people try to keep this cool persona by posting pictures that are always edited and refined. Finstas allow for a public outlet where an individual can post any thing they deem funny, cool, or even unattractive.
But as the Finsta community grows, will there be rules to follow? Will there be a Finsta police? In that aspect, there might be a new social code to follow when it comes to Finsta-ing. For me personally, I think a Finsta is what an individual decides it to be.
Finstas are fun and allow for a different type for social media outlet. They give people an opportunity to be themselves and allow others to see them in a different light. Also, as I mentioned before, there are no rules. So let’s keep it that way.