The Fake One is the Real One: Finstas, Authenticity, and Context Collapse in Teen Friend Groups
Dublin Core
Title
The Fake One is the Real One: Finstas, Authenticity, and Context Collapse in Teen Friend Groups
Subject
authenticity, context collapse, instagram, finsta, teens
Description
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.
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.
Creator
Christopher R. Darr, Erin F. Doss
Source
https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmac009
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Date
4 May 2022
Contributor
Sri Wahyuni
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Coverage
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2022
Files
Collection
Citation
Christopher R. Darr, Erin F. Doss, “The Fake One is the Real One: Finstas, Authenticity, and Context Collapse in Teen Friend Groups,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed May 23, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/8755.