There are two types of people in this world: those who have Finstas, and those who don't. If you’re curious as to what in the world a Finstagram, or Finsta is, you’re probably over the age of 25; but don’t worry, I’ve googled it so that you elderly folks don’t have to. According to the Urban dictionary, a Finsta is “A fake Instagram account, so one can post ratchet pictures without persecution from sororities, jobs and society as a whole.” Seems legit, right? An entire Instagram dedicated to one’s bad decisions, humor, or straight up stupidity. An “unfiltered” or “real” blog, if you may. But to me, the whole concept seems a little flawed.
The issue begins with the idea that a Finsta is private, and that therefore one can post any content they would like to, regardless of how graphic it may be. Don’t get me wrong, there are so many Finstas out there that are hilarious and totally PG. But there are also Finstas that serve as caches of an individual's blackmail photos of themselves. Finstas range from ugly mirror selfies, all the way to images of your friend’s neck, which looks like it was just mauled by a lion. Oftentimes, a long rant will hold the place of a caption, which will sometimes include the detailed story of your friend’s awesome Saturday night…a night she doesn’t quite recall.
What I struggle to understand is why in the world one would trust society to keep these photos contained to their Finstas. The argument is that only your “close” friends follow you, and therefore only they can see your photos. But I’m not so sure that the vast majority of people have 250 best friends. I’m gonna need everyone to open their eyes for like one sec. People are bored, and therefore, people screenshot. So yes, I’ve seen those videos of you doing drunk karaoke in your underwear (the ones you thought only your BFF’s would see), and yes, I’m a little concerned.
Another aspect of a Finsta that strikes me as a little odd is that people describe them as their “un-edited,” or “non-filtered lives.” Someone once told me that they love their Finsta because it shows everyone the “real” them, as opposed to their main Instagram that doesn’t. Alright. So is everyone suddenly living a double life? Should I go ahead and unfollow everyone’s main accounts? Because ain’t nobody got time for a confused soul with an identity crisis.
Lastly, the irony of it all is that many people are starting to take their Finstas VERY seriously. I mean the kind of serious that entails posting everyday, and counting the amount of likes on each post. It’s just funny, because social media is all about attention, and the desire for people to see/like the things you post. Therefore, there must be some degree of caring involved if someone is going to take the time out of their day to take the photo, crop it, caption it, and then share it.
To me, it sounds like Finsta is turning into Insta, and I’m not really sure how to deal with that. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll do the most ironic thing of all, and make one too.
But if I do, here’s what I’ll keep in mind: despite the fact that you might click the “private” setting, nothing is ever actually private when it comes to social media. In fact, those photos never really go away. Nobody wants their posts to bite them in the a** in the future, when they are looking for a career or trying to build a family.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words; so let’s keep those words as far away from our future children as we possibly can.
