Many of us have heavily curated Instagram accounts that only reflect the best aspects of our lives. While it can be nice to post handpicked photos of you and your life events, it rarely makes for an accurate representation of what your life is really like.
Enter the finsta, which shows your more grounded, genuine side on the social media network.
So, what exactly is a finsta? Why do people like to have one? Let's take a look.
Finstas Explained
The term “finsta” (or “finstagram”) is a combination of “fake” and “Instagram”. It's usually a secondary account that's the other side to a “rinsta”, or “real Instagram”.
Finstas have been around nearly as long as Instagram itself, but the idea has picked up a lot of steam over the last few years, particularly with teenagers and young adults.
On their main Instagram account (i.e. their rinsta), people post carefully composed, edited photos and videos that are aesthetically pleasing or designed for trends. Alongside the effort put into making this content, people often research how to write engaging Instagram captions for their posts to gain the largest reach.
These accounts are usually public and people tend to want to impress their peers. The more followers and likes, the better.
Finstas, on the other hand, are typically private accounts that people design for their close friends. Here, the content is more “real”—the photos may contain inside jokes, are less likely to be edited, and their content is more candid.
You can have fun with all parts of your finsta: many people like to incorporate puns or inside jokes in their finsta usernames, captions, and bios. It's more about sharing fun things with people that you care about than sharing content that you think looks aesthetic to a wide range of people, most of whom you won't know.
While your real Instagram account may have hundreds or thousands of followers, your finsta follower count is more likely to be in the tens or even single digits.
Why Do People Have Finstas?
Finstas are a great way to enjoy social media and display a non-edited, genuine version of yourself to your friends. In a way, they're celebrating what was so good about social media in the first place.
Instagram, by its very nature, welcomes fakeness. The pressure to always post aesthetic content, jump on the latest trends, or equate likes and followers to self-worth can be highly intense, and feed into the negative effects of social media. At its worst, Instagram is a comparison app where you see everyone's curated, flawless feeds and compare them to your real, flawed life.
Finstas bypass a lot of these problems entirely. You're under no pressure to post specific photos or aesthetic content, your followers are all people you know and interact with, and there's no pressure to compete for followers or likes. It's all about posting the content you want to, for people who know you best.
A Finsta Is a Great Way to Show Your More Genuine Side on Instagram
Finstas represent a more realistic side of Instagram users and are a great way for you to only interact and connect with your friends. They bypass a lot of the pitfalls of Instagram and prioritize being yourself instead of being someone you think people will like.
If you find yourself worrying that what you post on Instagram isn't good enough, how your followers might perceive your posts, or that everything is just too disingenuous, then a finsta might be perfect for you.