Urban Dictionary defines Finsta as "a fake Instagram account, so one can post ratchet pictures without persecution from sororities, jobs and society as a whole," and Sinsta as "a secret Instagram where people post scandalous pictures they wouldn't put on their normal Instagram."
It seems like people use the two terms interchangeably, though the meaning and purpose are so similar to each other. Regardless of what you choose to call them, the creation of these accounts has skyrocketed in recent months.
People still love each other's real accounts, of course, but the Finstas and Sinstas are where the real, raw stuff is posted. Embarrassing pictures of friends, long funny captions that are socially unacceptable otherwise, lower quality (aka unedited) photos, et cetera. I feel so old saying this, but my younger cousins are the ones who first introduced me to this world of Finstagram/Sinstagram. We were on vacation and told me to follow their secondary accounts, and I didn't really understand why they made the accounts since they already had real ones. But soon enough I realized what they're used for, and though I was skeptical at first, I found their secondary accounts highly entertaining. So eventually, over this past Christmas break, I decided to make one and convinced one of my friends to get on board so we could share it.
Upon returning back to school, we got compliments in person on how excited people were that we made this account. And as we got into our groove, some of our friends would even comment in person on the things we'd post. And some even called us by our username when they'd see us around campus, which was always amusing to us both.
Once you succumb and make one, you won't regret it. They're super fun, your friends love them, and you love posting on it. Plus, some people should really make one because they're posting stuff that their followers do not want to see in their real account newsfeed. (Yes, the Finsta/Sinsta newsfeed is supposed to be different from your real account feed.)
There are those people who post things on their real accounts that simply should not be there.
If you are just so compelled to share something against the social norms of regular Instagram, it's best to just post it on a secondary account. Whether it be scandalous pictures, party pictures, or just plain ugly (yet hilarious) pictures, your Finsta/Sinsta is the best place to put that stuff.
Secondary accounts have become so popularized that Instagram had to acknowledge it and add a feature which made switching between multiple accounts extremely easy. I know that when I made mine, I only knew of my cousins and a few other people that had them...but now, way more people have them.
All you have to do is log in to all the accounts that you want, and then to switch between them, you simply tap the top of your account name and then select from the list which one you want to be active on. Super easy and convenient! And if you're scrolling through your newsfeed and want to switch between accounts, a short cut is to hold down your profile icon in the bottom right, and the list will come up again and you just select the account you want to switch to.
And yes, this is my Finsta/Sinsta. I share it with someone else, but still...guilty.
I know that when I made mine, I only knew of my cousins and a few other people that had them...but now, way more people have them. I see a lot of people from my high school that have them and then there's people from SCU with them. It's like a second world of Instagram, really. You follow people on your real account (and they follow you back) and that's all good and normal, and then you chisel your followers down on your Finsta/Sinsta to who you want, and then they follow you back on their secondary account (and if you're lucky, maybe their real, also), so it creates another layer to Instagram that we didn't have before.
You get to make your secondary account more exclusive. On real accounts, people generally want to rack up as many followers as possible--even if that means following that person you see a lot and have mutual friends with, yet you really know nothing about each other -- because hey, at least it's a follower. However, on your Finsta/Sinsta, you choose only your closest followers to be let in on your wonderfully amusing account, because you wouldn't want just anyone seeing some of the things posted on your secondary account. You choose wisely and you choose only people who will be able to appreciate all of your shenanigan posts.
They really are a good time. So if you don't already have one, I'd suggest you make one and discover and immerse yourself in the hilarious world of Finstagram/Sinstagram, whatever you wanna call it. Happy 'gramming!
