teens

If you don't have a Fake Instagram account, you're not doing your teens right.

The Athlete's Foot
Thanks to our brand partner, The Athlete's Foot

Are you following your teens on Instagram? Keeping a close watch over every Valencia soaked, self-indulgent selfie?

If you said a smug yes, you are following your kids… I’m sorry, but you’re probably not.

At least, you’re not seeing everything.

Because according to this teenage correspondent, all the young people now have Finstas. “Fake” instas.   Private Instagram accounts with followers limited to just close friends.

No strangers, no hangers on, and definitely no parents.

But surprisingly it’s not deviant behaviour like boozy party pics, or secret boyfriends they’re trying to hide.

On the latest episode of This Glorious Mess, Holly Wainwright and Andrew Daddo a teenager share exactly what she posts on her private Instagram account:

According to 17-year-old Instagram addict Rhaegen, Finstas are the place to go to share the everyday moments that end up on the cutting room floor, not polished enough for the world to see on your public account.

“[The photos] wouldn’t make it to my main account, but I still want to show my friends,” says the Melbourne teen.

It might be a killer sunset, an ugly crying selfie after you finished watching Lion, or you’re just dying to share your dukkah-sprinkled poached egg brekky but you don’t want to be that person.

Oh yeah, crying selfies are BIG on Finsta, apparently.

A post shared by Edwina Bartholomew (@edwina_b) on

ADVERTISEMENT


Edwina Bartholomew may no longer be a teenager, but she’s still a big fan of the crying selfie.

So who is #blessed enough to follow Rhaegan on her Finsta?

“Mainly just my closest friends make the cut on my private account, I’d have under 20 followers,” the student says.

“That also changes depending how I’m feeling about people. If you haven’t talked to them in a while you give them a block. If you have a fight with your friends you might give them a block.”

Woah. It’s a tough game on social media. Watch your back…

A post shared by Pete (@chicomalo_518) on

ADVERTISEMENT

Holly and Andrew both agreed that Finstas are nothing to worry about, but they were a little bit perturbed by the amount of time the teenager spends on her phone.

She may be in the middle of her VCE, but Rhaegan still finds time to run two Instagram accounts, spending upwards of 3 hours on the social network EVERY DAY.

I guess it takes dedication. After all, have you seen some of those Instagram feeds? It’s an artform.

When it comes to cyber stalking his own kids though, Andrew just can’t be bothered.

“I don’t want to know,” he said.

Yep, give them the block.

Listen to the full episode of This Glorious Mess here:

You can buy any book mentioned on our podcasts from iBooks at apple.co/mamamia, where you can also subscribe to all our other shows in one place.

This content was created with thanks to our brand partner The Athlete’s Foot.