How to Choose the Perfect Username For Your Finstagram
Instagram has taken on a whole new level of importance. Not only is it telling of your personal brand, but it’s also a place of judgement. Every photo has to be perfectly curated, every filter choice seems like a life or death decision.
That’s not to say that Instagram is necessarily all fake, though — especially if you have a finsta.
Half of you are like “What the hell is a finsta?” and the other half are probably thinking “Shit, they’ve figured it out!”
Well chill out, because I have one too. But for those of you who don’t know: a finsta, or “fake Instagram,” is a secondary account that started as a way for teenagers to hide things from their parents that they only wanted their friends to see.
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It’s like a Tumblr, but on Instagram basically. Whether you’re hiding your private life from parents or those judgmental af friends of yours, a finsta is the perfect place to express yourself without caring about how many likes you will get. It’s the anti-Instagram, and de-stresses the importance of a post.
But the most important part of the finsta is the username. Unlike your “rinsta” (real Instagram) username which is probably just your name, your finsta username can be whatever you want it to be, but there is a science to it.
So, to help you navigate the terrain that is choosing a username, here are a couple tips to make sure your finsta is fool-proof.
1. Must Be Covert
The whole point of a finsta is to keep it private, so obviously the account itself should be on private. Another tip in order to keep people from finding it is to remove all personal info from it. Don’t put your name in the username, don’t link in to any websites that could be associated with you.
Basically, don’t put anything in your bio that is clearly obvious about you. Also, don’t use a picture of yourself as the profile photo. I know people who do, but normally they’re just really ugly selfies that are SO ugly, you can’t even tell it’s the person.
If you want to be daring and use a nickname that you have as your finsta username, that’s another way to keep people from finding it because it’s really unsearchable.
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2. The More Inside the Joke, the Better
Your finsta is really just for yourself and the select few who you decide to let follow it. So when choosing a username, the best way to come up a really unique idea is to think a random inside joke that you have with those friends who are following it. That just makes the whole thing even funnier, because not only do you get to laugh about whatever you post on the account, but also the name of the account literally every time you post anything.
Or, pick something obscure that you’re into, like a band or TV show that maybe the people who follow your rinsta might not understand. Or, better yet, combine the joke with a TV show. My finsta username is taken from a joke on a TV show that literally makes me keel over laughing every time it’s brought up.
I love that it’s pretty weird because I don’t feel like I’m “allowed” (by who, idk, society?) to be as strange on my rinsta.
If you’re having trouble coming up with a username that really embodies what you want your finsta to be, you can use this generator that lets you use categories to figure out a unique af username.
So essentially: the stupider the username, the better.
3. Post Literally Whatever
That’s the freedom of a finsta. After picking the perfect username, you get to upload all of the stupid pictures that you find hilarious without caring about what people are going to think. Some of what I post has to do with the username, like stills from the TV show that the username deals with, but everything else is pretty random.
However, most of what I post on my finsta are memes with really sarcastic captions because genuinely, who cares? It’s a space for me (and me only) to share whatever I’m feeling without stressing about a filter, what my followers would think or how many likes I’m going to get.
Post that slightly raunchy pic that your fam would judge you for! Post that stupid meme you can’t stop laughing about! Post it all! Use your newfound freedom from your rinsta to explore using 70 filters on a meme, or post off-brand things.
Rebel, because that’s the point of a finsta.
