Abstract
This study qualitatively explores how social media influences the identity expression of adolescent Black females. A pilot study revealed some teens have two Instagram accounts, a “Main,” or “real” Instagram account, and a “Finsta,” or “fake” Instagram account. Six Black girls from high schools throughout New York were selected for participation using convenience sampling. Thematic analysis of account observations and individual participant interviews revealed the Main account as a public space reserved for a contrived and confident persona, and the Finsta as a private space showing a side more genuine, vulnerable, and uncensored. Participants acknowledged a pressure on the Main page regarding appearance, described as uniquely severe for Black females yet simultaneously expressed an awareness of self, ownership of voice, and cultural pride. In conclusion, with adequate adult guidance, Instagram can function as a viable space for Black girls to engage in self-validation and self-expression critical to their social development.
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Notes
Black adolescent girls are not the only racial group to operate both a Main Instagram account and a Finsta. It is therefore recommended that other cultural groups are considered in future research that explores the unique function of a Finsta account in contrast to the Main.
As a result of convenience sampling, all six participants were coincidentally high school seniors in the same grade and age range. This limits the scope of adolescent behaviors that may be occurring on Instagram to those of teens nearing late adolescence. Future research may focus on considering how younger adolescent girls express themselves on social media.
Participant interviews and observations took place pre-pandemic. Ongoing research that monitors the behaviors of this marginalized population on social media within a post-pandemic society is therefore a vital and necessary expectation.
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Williams, L. I Need a Distinction Between the Good in Me and the Not as Good in Me: Black Adolescent Girls’ Binary Use of Instagram and Its Impact on Identity Expression. J Afr Am St 26, 81–99 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-022-09578-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-022-09578-2