The Rinsta’s and the Finsta’s
As harmless as the app called ‘Instagram’ seems on the surface – a photo and video editing platform – many dark areas loom around any corner. When not set up with proper privacy settings, the user needs to be extra vigilant to protect their eyes from the content that can pop up within a few clicks or swipes.
Despite the creator’s efforts to keep inappropriate content out of it’s app, and safe for “13+” to use, images inappropriate for any age of eyes can still be found. Users are allowed to ‘Block’, ‘Report’, and ‘Unfollow’ accounts that they are not interested in or believe are not appropriate. In its simplest form the app is not harmful, though the psychological effects of any social media platform are still present with this app, like any.
One of the standards and contriubuting factors to the negative psychological and emotional side effects is the need to look “perfect” – body, house, vacation, kids, etc. Kids using the popular app know that this standard exists, but still need their outlet to be truly ‘themselves’, or explore other personalities and behaviors.
That is where FINSTA’s come into the picture. A Finsta-gram account is the FAKE-Instagram account that kids will make to hide things they do not want seen from certain people’s eyes. Parents can get the hood pulled over their eyes if they are not aware of the possibility to have TWO accounts on IG, and will only be allowed to check the REAL Instagram account (or RINSTA). Most teens claim that the Finsta account is the one where they can be silly and share goofy photos and stories that they don’t want everyone to see. However, the other inappropriate uses of the Finsta accounts are also prevalent: sharing inappropriate content under the disguise of someone else entirely.
We all hope for the best from our children and desire that the morals and values they were taught will help them make the correct choice when it comes to content being shared. As parents, we need to be checking our child’s content and addressing the issues before they become a problem – and be aware of the fakes and reals on the ‘Gram.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/instagram
https://www.webwatcher.com/blog/finsta-what-are-the-risks-of-your-teens-fake-instagram-account/