If youâve ever been around a sorority girl, Iâm willing to bet youâve heard the word âFinstagram.â
Like me, the word may have eluded you for many years, until you finally learned its meaning: fake instagram.
It took me two years to create my own Finstagram. It led to the discovery of a weird world. Finstagram is an entire Instagram subculture in its own right, alongside #bossbabes and #instagays.Â
With Instagramâs recent announcement of its new âClose Friendsâ feature, a question has been on everyoneâs minds: what will happen to Finstagram?
I think itâs safe to say that Finstagram isnât going anywhere. Here are some of the reasons why Finstagram is here to stay.
What is a Finstagram?
A Finstagram, finsta for short, is a fake Instagram. Theyâre separate, usually private accounts that people can use to post things they might not want their moms to see.
Say you want to show off a picture you look hot in but might give your grandmother a conniption, or a video from a party that Great-aunt Mary would definitely disapprove of if it was shared on Facebook. Enter Finstagram.
Finstagrams, for obvious reasons, are particularly popular among college students – especially those in Greek life. But everyone could use one!
Why You Might Want a Finstagram
Letâs face it. Instagram comes with a lot of pressure. Even if you donât have a lot of followers, the fact is that youâre making yourself publically available to the world.
And thatâs terrifying.
A Finstagram is having an Instagram account that you donât have to care about. If you have content thatâs not 100% suitable for your main account, whether thatâs racy or just off-topic, put it on your Finstagram.
Itâs totally freeing. For those of us old enough to remember the days when anonymity on the internet was the given, the constant race to be recognized can feel totally removed from our modern experience of the internet.
Finstagram, in some ways, brings that back. You get to be in charge of who sees what you post. And you get to post whatever you want.
What is âClose Friendsâ Going to Do to Finstagram?
At the time of this article, Instagram has recently introduced a feature called âClose Friendsâ. Â Close friends allows you to put certain Instagram users in a pool so that certain parts of your Instagram story is only visible to them.
Naturally, people are freaking out about what thatâs going to do to Finstagram. But I donât think Finstagrammers have any reasons to worry.
The thing about âclose friendsâ is that itâs only for your story. So if you want to share something more long-lasting, Finstagram still has your back.
There are plenty of reasons someone might want to stick to Instagram posts over Instagram stories.
Finstagram Posts Or Finstagram Stories?
Posts and stories on a Finstagram account may be less of a debate than a main account, but there are still pros and cons to consider.
Because a Finstagram account is all about escaping the image other people have of you, it can be a lot more freeing to use posts. You can look back at them to cherish private memories. You donât have as much pressure to keep a story up to date throughout every day.
You can also rest easy that posting something on your Finstagram means it wonât be spread around. (Provided you trust your followers, of course.)
The best part about Finstagram is that there are no rules. You can use it however you want. If you want to post a story, post it! If you want to post an Instagram post, post it!
The decision is totally in your hands. And you can always look at other peopleâs Finstagrams to get the right idea.
Finstagram Is Its Own Instagram Subculture
Finstagram culture is a wide, wide step away from Instagram culture. If Instagram is about living your best life, Finstagram is about living your messiest life.
And honestly? Itâs great.
Finstagram almost feels like having a club of friends who are allowed to know the most earnest parts of your life. Having a space where you can put things you might want to talk about – but not want your parents to talk about – is really freeing.
Add onto that the fact that your friends probably also have Finstagrams, and you end up with a tighter relationship than before. Finstagrams reveal some of the most private parts of our personalities.
Having someone you can trust that with is a game-changer.
The Finstagram Aesthetic
Besides the culture, Finstagram also has a very particular aesthetic.
As much as we shy away from it, Instagram really is about presenting the most palatable aspects of our lives. I mean, whoâs ever looked in the mirror after a long night out with running makeup and thought âI should Instagram this?â Nobody, thatâs who.
But I could show you at least seven of those types of posts on my friendsâ Finstagrams. They used them to document the reality of their lives.
Where Instagram is all about making things look pretty and appealing, Finstagram is often exactly the opposite. Itâs not uncommon to see Finstagram posts that are totally unedited, with no filter.
The fact that we love these images anyways is a testament to the strength of Finstagram. Itâs a great place to escape overproduced images, and just get back to reality.
Whatâs the Difference Between A Finstagram and A Snapchat?
Thereâs the unavoidable question: Isnât there an app that already does that?
Well, yes. Many people use Snapchat instead of making a Finstagram. While I canât speak to othersâ personal preference, I can say that if you, like me, prefer Instagram to Snapchat, whatâs stopping you?
Snapchat’s widely used among Americans. But if you live outside of the U.S., Finstagram is where it’s at.
Finstagram also allows you to preserve posts rather than have them disappear in twenty-four hours. And you can even have them do that, if you want!
Itâs really up to you, but my voteâs been cast. Finstagram all the way.
Finstagram Removes the Stress of Private and Public Life
Iâm a person who often feels a lot of stress about how Iâm perceived online. Even though I love Instagram, it can feel like a lot of pressure to constantly think about my public image.
When I made my Finstagram, I felt a lot of that pressure lifted off my shoulders. I could focus on travel on my main account, and express insecurities, doubts, and of course, post memes, on my Finstagram. I no longer had to carefully screen content.
In other words, I wasnât always thinking about what everybody else was thinking about me.
As great as social media is, worrying too much about how others see us definitely a trap a lot of us can fall into. By constantly policing what we put on the internet, weâre constantly policing ourselves.
A Finstagram is a fantastic way to take some of that pressure off.
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Take it From a Finstagrammer…
Iâve had a Finstagram for a little over a year, and I can honestly say itâs made my relationship with social media as a whole healthier.
We underestimate the toll of a public life on ourselves. If youâve felt the pressure of Instagram at all in the last few years, I encourage you to try it out!
We all need somewhere to let a little loose.
