Recently, I learned what a “Finstagram” is. I’d consider myself a very “in the know” person when it comes to social media, so I simultaneously felt ashamed and wrong that I was out of touch with a common type of Instagram accounts. For those who also need to be educated, a “Finstagram” is a “fake Instagram.” Under that definition, I immediately believed that it was for celebrities to have their “real account,” and then their “fake accounts” that are made by their fans. I was, again, wrong. Anyone, even the students you sit in classes with, utilizes their finstagram to post their “real lives.” As opposed to their filtered and touched up selfie on their Instagram, their Finstagram would contain the raw photos or the sloppy selfies they told their bestie that they would delete from their phone. Finstagram accounts are kept private and only open to select people to follow, so there is a guiltlessness when posting literally whatever you want.
Upon first learning what a finstagram was, I really didn’t understand the point. When it comes to my social media accounts, I thought I was providing the “raw photos” that a finstagram does. I post every cool thing I do on my social media accounts, and Instagram is no exception. If I were to get a finstagram, I would find myself to be lost what to even post. My immediate reaction to finstagram accounts was “That’s so stupid.” After thinking about it further, though, maybe finstagrams are trying to get at something everyone strives to do on social media: be honest about their lives.
After going through my own account, I noticed patterns. Photo of a playbill, photo of my beer at a cool location, actual photo of me with someone, photo of a playbill, photo of my beer at a cool location, actual photo of me with someone, rinse, lather, repeat. Sure, my posted photos are taken at the best shows/concerts/games in the area, but there aren’t any photos of me doing homework or stressing out about senior year or anything really depicts what is happening. My account, and probably yours too, is putting on a facade of the realities in my life currently. It’s the recent scrolling of photos that honestly made me question what kind of life am I depicting to an outsider looking in versus what kind of life am I living. Would my Instagram account be as interesting if I posted videos of my sleepless nights working on assignments and/or thinking about future plans? Probably not but perhaps it would be more accurate to who I actually am. Finstagrams provide an outlet to post more liberally, and honestly, that I can see why people have created them. Instead of my super awesome seats at the Mets game, my finstagram could display how I have minimal amount of money left in my bank accounts, for example.
My Instagram isn’t as real as it could be, but am I going to make a finstagram? Hard no. As easy and more factual a side account would be, I feel incredibly weird making my life that public to anyone. Social media is there to keep your friends and family connected to you, but not so connected they’re basically in your head. Sorry to those who wanted in on the real life and times of a Stevens student with a terrible case of senioritis, but I’ll keep my facade up and the cool, yet repetitive photos, coming on my normal Instagram account. Shameless plug: find me on Instagram.
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