Sinstas provide online “diary” for users

With most teenagers already on social media, sinstas become a way for high schoolers to share more personal information with close friends.

Sinstas, which is the compound of “second” and “instagram”, is another added instagram account, popular with high school students .

On a typical sinsta account, people will share more personal information that shows the followers a more authentic side to them.

“I like that I can be more of myself because it’s people that I trust and people that I know I can just be myself around,” junior Em Beaton said. “I know I won’t be judged by them.”

A sinsta account will not have many followers attached to them due to people sharing more daily personal experiences.

“A lot of my close friends and people that I think would share the same humor as me follow me,” junior Mackenzie Convery said.

A sinsta is a place for users to be more of themselves, which has caused a shift for a main instagram account to be edited so users can reveal a perfect image for their followers.

“On my sinsta, I am goofy and post whatever and it’s fun and silly because I know everyone on it,” Beaton said. “I don’t really think about my posts and I don’t edit them or anything. On my main, I try to be the best person I can be, even if it’s not who I really am. Since I have so many followers on instagram, it is hard to post funny, authentic photos, because I don’t know every single follower.”

People will also use a sinsta as a social media diary to vent about any struggles going on in their lives.

“Some day’s if I’ve had a bad day or took a hard test, or whatever, I will post something on my sinsta,” Convery said. “It can be a place where I can just vent and let my followers know what is going on in my life.”

This use of a sinsta being a “diary” can invite the opportunity of drama.

“People can say bad things about each other or talk about people behind their backs on their sinsta posts, and you might think it’s about you or not,” Beaton said. “[This] could start a lot of drama.”

This begs the question: is having a sinsta beneficial or hindering to highschoolers?

“Having a sinsta has helped me in high school connect with my close friends about things

happening in my daily life, whether it’s something funny, serious, or fun,” Beaton said. “I am able to post something about my life that is either good or bad, and have my close friends look at it and respond with no judgement.”

Others don’t see any benefits or disadvantages of having a sinsta.

“I don’t think it affects me,” Convery said. “It doesn’t make me better or make me worse. It is just something to laugh about with my friends and look back at.”

A sinsta is private for the user and touches on normal issues that are common to teenagers like tension with parents, anger with school, or fights with friends. As a parent, this could be troubling knowing that their kid is letting emotions out into the “social media world.” 

“I told my mom that I had a sinsta,” Beaton said. “I told her it was just a second instagram account to connect with close friends and post funny pictures. Even though I told her I had a sinsta, my mom does not follow it because I don’t want her seeing all my posts.”

Even though most parents or authoritative figures know about sinstas, it is uncommon for them to follow a teenager’s sinsta, mainly because it is followed only by close friends of the user. With a sinsta being popular with mostly teenagers, it also brings up the question: Does a sinsta stays with teenagers until they become an adult or are they temporary accounts?

“As of now, I don’t know if I will have a sinsta in five years or so,” Convery said. “I feel like older people that I know don’t have one, so I feel like when I get older, I will use it less and less and eventually stop using it.”