Living a Double Life Through Instagram

Instagram is a photograph-sharing social-networking app that has been around since October 2010. It currently has over 400 million monthly active users (as of November 2015), however, many people recently have been creating two accounts. This trend of a “fake instagram” or a “finsta” have been gaining popularity in recent months. These “finsta”s allow for people to post honest responses to days, weird text messages, and document their life (similar to snapchat), without fear that all of their “regular instagram” followers will see. With social media become more of a prominent influence in everyday life, people typically tend to have followers that they are not close with, or do not know at all. Finstas allow people to feel more comfortable posting embarrassing things.

Finstas have become a popular thing at Madison High School, with many people having an account that they will not allow everyone to follow. Madison Dodger Online asked multiple students what they believed drew them, or other people, to use a finsta:

“I like how funny it is, because like no one can judge you or anything”.

“Personally I think I’m hilarious and want to share my humor with my closest friends”.

“It’s an informal, low pressure way to use social media– the point is to post silly/weird/unattractive/funny pictures and in a way it’s kind of a reaction to how the expectation for Instagram has become to post polished, picture-perfect stuff. It’s kind of a reality check”.

“I have a finsta because I feel a personal connection with each follower so I feel more comfortable to be myself”.

“It’s kind of like an expanded group chat”.

Finstagrams are the more honest and real version to the typical instagram.

http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/important-instagram-stats/