Recent news of a student athlete has sparked many questions about the term “finsta.” What exactly is “finsta?” If you have high school or college student, it is almost guaranteed that they know exactly what it is. Finsta is a fake instagram account. “Finsta” combines the terms fake and instagram. Individuals create these accounts to avoid their parents, teachers, or employers from seeing what they are actually doing and posting in their everyday life. They are what I consider hiding behind social media. These fake accounts normally have videos or photos of behaviors that are inappropriate. I too have seen this in the twitter world and that is why I refer to those fake accounts as “Fwitter.”

Individuals think they can “be themselves” without judgement on these fake accounts. The reality is you cannot hide behind the truth. Whatever you do in the dark, it will surely come to light. Talk to your teenage and college children about their social media presence. Things on social media can truly have an impact on their lives. Many have lost opportunities for scholarships and jobs. Others have been dismissed and fired from positions. Encourage them to let the footprints they leave be from a path of success and positive experiences and not one of destruction and regret.

Speaking of social media……what is your social media presence? Do you utilize it to spread love and positive information? Do you use it to spread negativity? It is for gossip? Do you utilize it to gain knowledge? To stay connected with family and friends? What would your employer say if they had access to your profile? Whatever your presence is, evaluate it and determine if it is positive or negative.

If you are a fan of Twitter, you should consider participating in a  twitter chat in your career field. As an educator, I am active on Twitter and enjoying networking and participating in Twitter chats. I recently co-moderated a twitter chat and it was a great experience. I recently reached out to others to explain about twitter chats. Here is a snippet of that information:

Twitter is a platform that allows you to do a lot of different things including interacting with others in your field. If you do not have a professional twitter account, I encourage you to create one and begin networking and participating in Twitter chats. A Twitter chat is a public Twitter conversation around one unique hashtag. This hashtag allows you to follow the discussion and participate in it. We all have seen hashtag being used on social media (#hashtag). Twitter chats are usually recurring and on specific topics to regularly connect people with these interests. Search for a twitter chat on a topic of interest and see what the next one will be hosted.  This allows an opportunity to have professional conversations, answer questions, and network with others across the globe. Try it and after you get comfortable, consider having your own!!

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