What is a Finsta, you may ask? Well, if you’ve been on Instagram lately, you have most likely noticed that some people have been creating other comedic accounts filled with embarrassing photos and comments. If you haven’t noticed this trend, I’m going to assume you have been living under a rock or you were born before 1990 and are therefore excused from understanding the Millennial’s, such as myself, strange trends that are so unlike your own. But, let me explain: A Finsta,according to my understanding, is a “fake Instagram” designed in addition to ones Rinsta or “real Instagram” (you know, the one where you post your cute selfies, family photos, and #tbt posts). A Finsta is where you put your Snapchat fails, drunken (and hung over) adventures, and any other embarrassing moment that you have paired with a witty and comedic caption.
Now, seeing as the content of these accounts tend to be rather embarrassing, one wouldn’t want most people to see you sucking on a penis shaped lollipop in the middle of the London tube, which you may view on my Finsta, kinky.katee. Although, this was a very fine moment in my life, I wouldn’t want everyone I know to see it. Hence, this is where the wonderful “private” setting Instagram has is almost always applied on ones Finsta to protect the embarrassing photos we all post and want only our friends to see but maybe not our parents or future employers.
I have asked some of my personal favorite Finsta owners about their accounts to give you all further insight into the world of the Finsta. These are just some of the accounts that give me particular joy and inspire my own crass humor. So sit-back, scroll down and snicker at their responses like I did.
Emma Wilson aka EatItEmma, 18, University of Guelph
1) What is your Finsta account name and why did you pick it?
"My Finsta account name is EatItEmma. I chose it because I liked the alliteration and it represents how I like to eat everything."
2) What is your favorite part about having a Finsta?
"My favorite part about having a Finsta is being able to express myself in pictures and captions to my close friends. It allows me to be weird and not feel judged for it."
3) What is your most embarrassing Finsta moment to date? What Happened?
"The most embarrassing Finsta moment I ever had was posting a picture on my Rinsta by mistake when I was really intoxicated. I still have no clue what thought came to my head to post it that night, but drunk me deleted it and posted it to my Finsta. It was quite an awful picture with my eyes half open, vaseline on them and an awful caption. I honestly don't even remember posting it until the next day. I was so drunk."
William Campbell aka GodofSoup, 18, Gap Year
1) What is your Finsta account name and why did you pick it?
"I chose the name GodOfSoup for my Finsta, my nickname being "Campbell," a well-known soup brand. I chose the name because it highlighted the three themes that I wanted my Finsta to express; narcissism, humor, and Campbell-themed content."
2) What is your favorite part about having a Finsta?
"As I’ve developed into a clown among and across many of my friend groups and social circles, I wanted to use my Finsta as a way of spreading my humor to a wider audience that knew my character and personality, so as to create a comedic channel for my friends while retaining the personal involvement and idea of myself as the butt of my jokes. Thus, as my Finsta has developed from a personal account focused on ugly selfies and personal stories into a well-known and popular Campbell-themed comedy page, making others laugh and appreciate my humor has made running my Finsta worthwhile, and has now become compulsive and addictive in the necessity of generating new content for fans."
3) What is your most embarrassing Finsta moment to date? What Happened?
"My most embarrassing Finsta moment occurred when a close friend created another “Campbell Themed” Instagram account entitled “Doctor Ugly,” which she promised to furnish with ugly selfies and embarrassing photos screenshotted and collected from our Snapchat conversations. This became an embarrassing event because, although she called it “a fan account,” she did not make her identity as the owner of the account public, and many people suspected me of making a third Instagram account based on myself in addition to my Rinsta; CampbellSelfiesBestSelfies, and my Finsta; GodOfSoup. As I received backlash for the third account, I was forced to ask the friend to remove the account, and to make a public post on my Snapchat and Instagram to deny involvement with the “Doctor Ugly” account and to apologize to the people who had been confused by it."
Asha Bicarie aka Asha_not_Asia, 19, Western University
1) What is your Finsta account name and why did you pick it?
“My Finsta account name is Asha_Not_Asia and I picked it because whenever I tell people my name they assume it is spelled A-S-I-A not A-S-H-A which is how actually it’s meant to be spelled so I’m just making fun of the way my name is pronounced and spelled.”
2) What is your favorite part about having a Finsta?
"My favorite part of having a Finsta account is the fact that I can post literally anything I want and not worry about waiting for likes or if people are going to like my photo or if they’re going to not like it. It’s just nice to have freedom.I really like having my real account where I actually wait for likes and take time for editing my photos as opposed to my fake account - because my fake account - I truly don’t care if I have one like or two hundred likes. I only let people I’m really close to follow me so it really doesn’t bother me with the amount of likes I get."
3) What is your most embarrassing Finsta moment to date? What Happened?
“So, basically, the most embarrassing thing about my Finsta account is Finsta-dm’d [dm or direct-message is a feature on Instagram where you send private messages to other users on Instagram] one of my exes. It’s really easy to make mistakes and not realize you’re making a mistake on your finsta account because you can so easily switch accounts. So I didn’t realize I was on my Finsta account and I direct-messaged my ex just kind of being like “how are you?” and he probably thinks I’m a freak now. But, I don’t know… It’s just funny. It doesn’t really bother me because they obviously know who I am and know how weird I am, but it just sucks when people you don’t want to know about your Finsta account find out about it.”
Ella Burt aka HellaYellaElla, 17, Bermuda High School for Girls
1) What is your Finsta account name and why did you pick it?
"My Finsta is HellaYellaElla. Someone once told me there's a level when someone gets mad, then there's a level beyond that; "hELLA mad," and "yELLA" is a slang for mixed race people and they all have my name in it, so, i picked those two to go together with my real name. So, it's a funny mix on two things about me."
2) What is your favorite part about having a Finsta?
"Since I only follow Finstas on my account, my favorite part is that you can say anything or do anything because everyone else is joking around so you have creative freedom and can joke about yourself and share funny stories about yourself with your close friends."
3) What is your most embarrassing Finsta moment to date? What Happened?
"I think I've had embarrassing moments where I accidentally post on my real Instagram account. But, for my Finsta, it was when I was making fun of my ex-boyfriend breaking up with me. One of his classmates sent the picture to his class group chat. Considering it was over a year after we had broken up he found it strange, but we've sorted it out so it's fine and I blocked the girl."
As you can see, Instagram has created a possible platform for us to control our profile views, which is perfect to keep out unwanted parents and employers from viewing your reckless, illegal, and hilarious behaviors. The Finsta is a creative outlet for us to laugh at each others failures, and faces. So, if you're like me, and enjoy wildly inappropriate humor, laughing at oneself, and thrive off of the attention of others; a Finsta is going to be a great addition to your social media resumé.
Finsta to your heart's content and don't let anyone shame you for your phallic lollipops on the London subway.
