The Fake One is the Real One: Finstas, Authenticity, and Context Collapse in Teen Friend Groups

Abstract

Research has shown that as individuals—particularly teenagers—navigate social media, they value authenticity, typically understood as congruence between their online and offline identities. Portraying oneself in an authentic manner, however, is complicated by the phenomenon of context collapse, where multiple audiences (e.g., friends, teachers, parents) become homogenized and boundaries become blurred. Drawing on focus group data with 20 teenagers aged 13–17, we examined how teens use Finstas (“fake Instagram” accounts) to navigate tensions between context collapse and authenticity. Our participants see themselves as quite skilled at creating idealized identities on their Rinstas (“real Instagram” accounts) but turn to Finstas because they find such performances unsatisfying, using these secondary accounts for active resistance to norms of mainstream Instagram, often through negative emotional expression and self-description. Our study adds to the literature on teen social media use by illuminating strategies teens use to navigate context collapse as they seek authenticity.

Generation Z, values, and media: from influencers to BeReal, between visibility and authenticity

“…The interaction between the values of young people and the values conveyed by the media is indeed a complex and ever-evolving theme. We know that the media can inevitably influence the values of young people in various ways, and, even more so, social media, starting with their widespread use, have provided young people with a space for visibility and self-representation that still allows them to navigate between a dimension of authenticity ( Schwarz and Williams, 2021 ) and one of “false representation,” deciding what to post or share, when to do it, and how to do it ( Boyd, 2014 ; Marwick and Boyd, 2014 ) and skillfully using both “authentic” and “fake” profiles ( Darr and Doss, 2022 ).…”

“It’s Your Finsta at the End of the Day . . . Kind of”: Understanding Emerging Adults’ Self-Presentational Changes on Secondary Accounts

“…Hogan’s (2010) lowest common denominator concept describes the process through which social media users decide what to share, using their most “problematic” audience member as guidance—the logic being that if content is acceptable to this audience member, it’s acceptable to the entire network (and thus to share). Instagram, despite existing research suggesting that Finstas might be a strategy for dealing with context collapse, as they separate out one’s close audience and thus become a space for negative or less performative self-presentation (Darr & Doss, 2022; Dewar et al, 2019; Huang & Vitak, 2022; Taber & Whittaker, 2020), we explore whether context collapse still occurs on Finsta and the mechanisms behind how emerging adults manage their self-presentation within this secondary account.…”

“…In summary, the existing literature highlights how Finsta self-presentational norms diverge from more generic social media norms. While negative content and authenticity have been found to be unique to Finsta, we hope to further investigate any other change of self-presentational norms for emerging adults in addition to Darr and Doss's (2022) work, which focused on a younger (aged 13-17) set of participants who have not yet reached emerging adulthood.…”

“…Aside from negative content, Finsta may have its own social norms, such as an expectation to be “open, funny or even imperfect” (Xiao et al, 2020, p. 10) or include content on drugs and alcohol (Xiao et al, 2020). Presenting authenticity may also be another social norm on Finsta, as Darr and Doss (2022) found that teen participants’ self-presentational behaviors for being authentic evolved from “spilling T” (expressing honest opinions, often strong, about others) to “shit-posting” (sharing less important content than Rinsta) as an indication of their self-identified maturity. In summary, the existing literature highlights how Finsta self-presentational norms diverge from more generic social media norms.…”

“…Finstas, or “fake Instagrams,” are typically created by individuals as a secondary Instagram account to express an authentic (Darr & Doss, 2022; Taber & Whittaker, 2020) and true (Kang & Wei, 2020) self apart from their “real Instagram” or Rinsta, where people typically present a more curated self (Taber & Whittaker, 2020). Finstas are seen as a safe place to present “unfiltered, silly and sometimes NSFW” (Not Safe for Work) content (Xiao et al, 2020, p. 6) and where users can “reflect and share difficult emotions” (Xiao et al, 2020, p.7).…”