When I was in high school and got my first social media account, I remember my mom telling me to be careful about what I posted since my name would be attached.
My Instagram has gone through many changes, from my directioner days to my theatre kid days to who I am now. My actual Instagram account is something that represents the idealized version of me that I want the rest of the world to see. It’s an account where I make my life seem fun and show all the cool photos I take with all the amazing people in my life.
But, I still wanted a way to easily tell or show things about my life to my friends without messaging a bunch of people the same thing repeatedly. And thus, my ‘finstagram’ was born.
A ‘finstagram’ is a mixture of both fake and Instagram and is basically a second account that people have to post whatever they want.
It’s an account where there is less stress associated with posting and you can really be one hundred percent honest about who you are.
The username is normally a play on words similar enough to one’s original name, but sometimes completely different depending on how easily accessible someone wants their account to be.
Mine is specifically my last name changed slightly to something my friends in high school used to say about me, but I have seen accounts that have absolutely nothing to do with the individual. My ‘finsta’ is normally just pictures I think are cool, but they aren’t a part of the ‘aesthetic’ I created for my actual Instagram account.
I want to be able to have fun and post pictures or videos that I think are funny and only open up to roughly 30 to 40 people.
I show my followers my cooking adventures since I think its funny to see me try to cook when I can’t.
I also will post pictures of me trying to dance, because once again that is something I think is funny, but I don’t necessarily want 584 people to see that.
I also have a finstagram with my best friend – we just post when we get up to random stuff. We document the days we spend together when they are actually so subpar and it’s just something that we enjoy doing.
Now I understand why people think that these fake Instagrams are a waste of time.
The question they ask is probably along the lines of “why would you want to post something but only have a select few people allowed to see it?” or “why not just show people these pictures in person?”
Honestly, I don’t really have an answer for you on that. But I think that since only a limited amount of people have access to these accounts and the fact that my full name isn’t attached to it makes it fun to do.
Also, when my friends comment on it or I comment on my friends pictures, I feel like I am just in one big group chat with all of my friends (without having a group chat with 40 people – because lets be honest here, group chats with like 6 people stress me out).
I guess what I am trying to say is that my fake Instagram account is something I enjoy having.
You don’t have to make one if you don’t want to, but it does give you a freedom of some sort to post about yourself and your life without the paranoia that a future employer or that one follower who likes to gossip too much being able to see your life.
