Insta vs. Finsta
Instagram has always been a platform for users to approach in whatever way they want, whether that may be to express themselves through artwork or simply share a small anecdote from their personal lives to their respected audience. The general way of using the platform, though, is simply by putting on respectable face with the intent of showing a "pretty" account. "Pretty" is being used in the sense of one's account and each individual photo being aesthetically pleasing and/or simply having a nice photo in which one looks presentable. The image to the left is exactly the sort of images one would see on a regular Instagram account. This post involves a nice image and short caption. Such captions are expected to be witty in some way, but never too long to lose the interest of everyday users scrolling through their timeline. In that case, unlike Facebook, Instagram is social media in which its general users give little context to their audience about their personal lives, but enough context to understand the overall meaning of the post. For instance, the top image shows @nataliehollander standing next to an older man. The most significant aspect of this post is the user tagging the man next to her. If the president of the University of Florida were not tagged, there would be fewer people who would know who the man is, let alone understand how significant this moment of recognition is for any student.
Over the course of the ten years it has existed, Instagram -- or its users -- made a noticeable shift in the way social "faces" are being presented on the platform. On the other side of the spectrum from the above post is the finsta account. This alternative account is one used by general users in which they follow and are followed by fewer people than on their main, or pretty, account. Within finsta accounts, there is a continued theme of making an "ugly" post and -- usually but not always -- accompanying it with a lengthy caption. This is a platform in which general users can let their hair down and be a little more open about their personal lives than on their main account, indicating that the audience is of a much closer relation to the user behind the account. In other words, @notnataliehollander is the alter ego of @nataliehollander. In contrast to the face of success in the above photo is the face of underlying stress in the photo to the right. While on a main the image is of the most importance regarding context, it is on a finsta account that the caption tells all.