Finsta:  A portmanteau of the words “fake” and the short version of “instagram” coined to represent the idea of an account on Instagram one uses aside from their actual account, where they showcase the more authentic versions of their life they don’t want the followers on their public account to view. Finstas are usually private and require a request from people who do not follow the account, and have usernames that are funny, unidentifiable to its owner, or go along with a certain theme of the account.

Maybe you know someone with one, maybe you have one yourself; whatever the case might be it’s clear that this phenomenon is rising quickly among high schoolers. This trend, however, has surprisingly been around for several months, according to a Look.Co.Uk article in August of this year. It was only recent that fake instagram accounts made their appearance on the feed of the students at Thomas Worthington. Ironically enough, ‘fake instas’ tend to show the actual real sides of people hiding behind the posts on their public accounts. Content on finstas range from rants, gossip, or just musings about everyday life. According to students with finstas, there stands an “unspoken rule” that followers of finstas do not “snitch” on the content or the owners of these fake accounts.

Like any social media trend, it is unclear how long this finsta phemonemon might last. According to a twitter poll of 115 teenage members, only 37% voted that they have finstas while a whopping 63% voted that they do not. Whether you are a fan of them or not, one thing is for sure; finstas are here for a good time, not a long time, and users find the trend a great way to express their authentic selves to private users while still maintaining a second public and appropriate account for the rest of the world to see.