For those that aren’t super active on Instagram, the term “finsta” may be foreign to your ears. Though for college students and high school students, it's certainly become a prevalent term in our vocabulary and while some college students believe they hold you back from growing up—I promise, you don’t need to delete your finsta to grow up.
SEE ALSO: College Students, Grow Up And Get Rid Of Your Finsta.
Finsta refers to a “fake Instagram,” where users often use this account to post silly pictures of themselves, the ones that don’t make it to their actual Instagram page. While someone’s real Instagram account may have hundreds, close to thousands of followers, a user often regulates their finsta to have a small number of followers. Because of this, finsta followers are often regulated to being close friends or friendly acquaintances.
On their finstas, some people simply vent about their day, their busy week, something that happened in their life, or post silly videos of themselves. And while yes, some certain silly videos on finsta should not be tolerated period. Any video that features the use of vulgar language, drug use, or racist content should never be posted anywhere, to begin with, and no one should ever consider making such a video. That’s simple common sense.
Just because a college student was found posting racist content on her finsta and was kicked out of school for it does not mean that every college student is out there posting the same things. Making a generalization like that just unfairly paints all college students in a negative light.
So many people use their finsta as a way to vent, and as a way to get something off of their chest. I can easily say that my finsta timeline is filled with vents, and stories about their day. While it does seem silly to use finsta as a way to vent, sometimes that’s just the best way someone can cope. If it works for that person, then it works for that person. And there should be nothing wrong with that.
Saying that someone should “probably get new friends or people who actually care about you” because of this is honestly a little absurd. Because of finsta, I have learned more about the people I follow. I have built small bonds by replying to their posts, supplying extra motivation through the comments—something that I would never have done if I didn’t have a finsta. Why? Because I would not have been able to see what was going on in that person's life during that week.
Overall, it is common sense what to post about and what not to post about on your finsta and a vast majority of college students aren’t posting harmful content. Assuming that any college student that has a finsta and posts vulgar content is truly an awful assumption to make because honestly, many college students are much smarter than that.
These accounts are simply used as personal blogs, as a way to vent, de-stress a little, and get something off your chest, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. So, if something as simple as having a finsta is enough to grind your gears, maybe you’re the one that has to grow up a little.
