As many of you already know, one of the newest and most thriving social media trends is a fake instagram, or a "finsta" as it is commonly known. College students probably make up the majority of these accounts, and there have been critics of the trend who have some negative opinions about it.

I want to clear up exactly what a finsta is for. A finsta is a medium to express oneself in a way that eliminates all judgement. You control who follows you and who even knows that it's you at all. I am here to defend everyone who wants to express themselves without people thinking that they are better than them. I am writing this to make sure that people are not judged just because they have a finsta, regarless of what is on it.

The most common misconception about finstas is that they are only used to post NSFW images of yourself doing "trashy", illegal, or just downright awful things. This isn't true at all. Some people out there use them for this, but we're looking at the bigger picture here. There are people who feel judged by others when they post things on their normal accounts because of all the different people who follow them. The article I read that was criticizing finstas said that it was a way to "hide behind the internet" when that is not the case at all. Finstas are a way of bringing your true self out from behind the mainstream wall that the internet has put in front of you to begin with. Instagram is generally a place where people feel the need for their photo to fulfill a certain level of "artsy", and if they don't do that, they won't post them. Finstas are precisely for those photos. No one will get annoyed or judge for the pictures on your finsta because those aren't the pictures that you're putting out there to really represent you like your regular Instagram account does. That is the purpose of having a finsta. Not to be an idiot.

All of this being said, yes, I do think that there is a certain degree of brain power required to maintain a finsta that isn't going to be a negative thing, but it's not rocket science. I know plenty of people who have them and are not just trying to be "cool" and posting pictures of them drinking or smoking, and there is nothing wrong with using it the way they do. Freedom of self-expression is one of my favorite things about social media, and as long as you are smart about who you're sharing your personal life with, there is nothing wrong with having an account for your closest friends that shows a side of you that other people may not understand. It's just another way for people to make social media their own instead of letting other people dictate what they can and cannot do.

Don't hate on people for wanting to express themselves, and definitely do not criticize others' choices if you do not know the true motives behind them. That does not only go for finstas, but also for life in general.

I hope I cleared that up for y'all. Happy 'grammin'.