In modern times social media is one of the most popular pastimes. It’s easy to just whip out a phone and check Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. Recently, fake Instagrams (or “finstas”), have been the rage among students. The idea of a fake Instagram is to share more private pictures and only allow certain people to look at such photos. It is rather unnecessary that finstas are created for the idea of it being more comfortable and intimate.

No one should need a second Instagram for them to feel more comfortable on social media. They don’t have to add everyone they know on social media just because their friends know them or they’ve heard of someone’s name. People add “friends” on social media that they barely talk to in real life, all because they want more followers and not because they are genuine friends with everyone they add on social media. To be honest, out of the 1,000 followers people have on their Instagram, they probably know only around 100.

It really is all just a front that people put up.

Young teens seem to think the more followers, the better their image, when it really should not be so.

Having an Instagram doesn’t mean everyone whose name you have heard should be followed, nor does it mean that people whom a student does not know need to be allowed to see said student’s pictures (there is a privacy option for a reason). Also finstas aren’t needed if other apps like Snapchat can be used for intimate friends to see “embarrassing” photos and personal anecdotes. If people just manage their original Instagram so that who they actually want to see the photos are the only ones that follow them, then a finsta is just a waste of time.

And if the idea behind the fake Instagram is for only the most intimate of friends to see your posts, then why not send it through a Snapchat or group chat? The other case with a fake Instagram is the ranting. It’s understandable to vent on social media, but when an account is created just so people can write paragraphs about their issues, it affects those following them. It creates too much negativity. It isn’t wrong to vent on social media, but to have a whole account dedicated to it is too much.