The term “finsta” has woven itself into our everyday vocabulary. If you ask someone what that word means, they will most likely say it’s a second Instagram account that a person has in order to post about more private information in their life. They may even say that a finsta can be classified as a social media diary because it shares a person’s thoughts and feelings with their closest friends. However, a finsta can be more complicated than it seems.

Many students start their own finsta in order to display private information about themselves in a way that’s fun and more exciting than just a simple text message in a group chat to their friends. WHS freshman Chloe Pappalardo says, “I made a finsta because I felt like everyone was doing it, so it was something that I did for fun.” Recently, though, finstas have turned into something more than just a fun hobby.

People have found that their finsta allows them to post funny and unattractive pictures of themselves, whereas their “rinsta” does not.

“Finstas allow you to express your true self instead of making your life look perfect on your actual Instagram,” says WHS junior Megan Neiswenter.

WHS junior Julia Romano agrees with Neiswenter. “I’ll post something on my finsta without consulting my friends,” says Romano. “But on my real Instagram I will send the picture I want to post in a group chat first and ask if I should post it or not.”

Many people attribute the difference between what they post on their finsta versus their rinsta to the number of followers that each one has. WHS senior Julia Robb says, “My finsta has less than 200 followers, whereas my rinsta has over 900 followers.”

With that many followers on an Instagram account, it is not a shock that people care more about what they post, since more people will be seeing and judging this picture.

At this time of the year, WHS seniors are more invested in what they post on their rinsta than before. With college starting in a few months, many seniors have found that they judge prospective college friends based off of their rinstas.

“You haven’t met these people yet, so you want to make a good impression on your rinsta,” says senior Stephanie Borr. “These people do not follow my finsta since it is limited to only my closest friends.”

The next time you go to post a picture on your Instagram, think about the reason why you are choosing finsta or rinsta. Which version of yourself are you presenting to the world —a fake, “perfect” version, or your real self?