By: Julia Effle –

First thing in the morning after unlocking my phone, I browse through my instagram feed, scrolling past the very few new posts that were shared over night. I do this at least 15 or more times a day, along with checking several other social media apps. Over this last summer I received a follow request from an account with a username that began with “@private…”. I clicked ‘accept’ because the second half of the username included the name of my friend. I then clicked the blue ‘follow’ button because I instantly had an idea of what this might be. This account was a Sinsta – something that had been the topic of discussion all summer. By accepting this request and following in return, I was now entering the new world of social media: the tangled web of private Instagram.
But before we begin to untangle the vast world of hidden profiles – it is important to understand where it all started. In October 2010, social media changed immensely with the launch of the Instagram application. It exploded and reached 1 million followers by December. Its initial intention was for checking into locations and meeting up with friends, according to The Atlantic’s article “Instagram Was First Called ‘Burbn’”. Since its creation seven years ago, the app has gone through several updates and is now used to post content carefully curated by the user. Today, while you scroll through your Instagram feed, you are bound to see artful photos of someone’s brunch, accounts filled with pictures of dogs, roast accounts posting meme after meme, and #relationshipgoals.
In fact, you can credit Instagram for perpetuating and exploiting the now-infamous selfie.
With over 95 million new pictures uploaded daily, Instagram has provided users with the ability to showcase their “Instagram Identity” – that is, a public account that is carefully manicured with heavily edited photos, filters galore, and captions that convey their ‘superior’ life.

With this influx of misleading photos, it’s no surprise that disinterested users have started looking for a different way to express themselves authentically. Enter the world of private accounts.
A ‘Finsta’, is a second Instagram account used to post funny, embarrassing, and goofy photos you wouldn’t share with your large perspective of followers on your original account.. This is also where you might share more posts than necessary and you can avoid #secondpost.
On the other hand, a ‘Sinsta” is also a second account but here you might see more scandalous, provocative, and sometimes inappropriate content that you would want others to see besides close friends and the people you trust.
Sophomore Sharelle Miley is pretty active on social media and spends a lot of time sharing, liking, retweeting and posting. While she admitted to having a ‘Sinsta’, she said she does not use it to post scandalous, revealing or inappropriate photos.
“On the daily, I think I spend at least six hours or more on [social media],” said Miley. “I like it but sometimes it causes drama, so I don’t like it.”
Miley made her ‘Sinsta’ account her freshman year and has since created 250 posts. According to a post by a concerned mom on the blog titled Beyondwordslife,
“Apparently the kids have grown weary of perfectly curated and edited versions of their Instagram lives, and are creating these “secret” accounts where they can post stuff they normally wouldn’t post on their regular Instagram account. So far, for Girl Child’s circle of friends, this is where you get to dork out “secretly.” This train of thought applies to Miley, who said she made her account simply because she was bored and thought it would be entertaining.
“I only let close friends and people I trust follow me,” said Miley. “On a normal post [on your public account] you would have a cheesy caption or a cute picture, but on your private account you can be ugly and you don’t need a cheesy caption.”
Out of the 223 self-selected survey participants here at LSE, only 22.2% of people admitted to having a private account. However, there was noticeable hesitancy that came along with admitting to such a private thing.Throughout the day, I overheard students talking about the survey and the controversial nature of revealing their private accounts. It became clear that privacy was extremely important to maintain that privacy.
But not all who have private accounts are so consumed by the need to remain anonymous. Out of the 67 people who claimed to have an account, the majority said the mood of their account was just funny and laid back.
Senior Brayden Renner made hers recently this year and says she’s on it 1-2 hours a day total.
“I made [my Finsta] this year because everyone has one and it’s kind of blowing up right now,” said Renner. “There is a difference. A spam/Finsta is more for ranting and a Sinsta is more for ones who party a lot.”
In the very beginning when these accounts started popping up in my follow requests, I didn’t agree with them, and maybe this is because I only knew them as negative things that could get people in trouble. But as time went on, after contemplating the difference between a ‘sinsta’ and a ‘finsta’, and what I might post, I finally jumped on the bandwagon. I created my finsta a little over a month ago and I post almost everyday, sometimes more than once. Although I don’t have many followers, that isn’t the goal. My intention is to express myself and the mood I’m in throughout the day, freely without judgement. So for me, my finsta is just a place to be silly and convey the real me.