Recently, the New Year has given us a glimpse of new trends. However, one trend caught wildfire as many people began to participate. Most peoples’ Instagram accounts usually consist of nice pictures of them, their friends, and other pleasing pictures for the general public to see. Instagram allows its users to create profiles where they post pictures of basically anything. This year, many people began to create a second account that branches out from their “main” account. The interesting fact is that many create these accounts for everyday use. Their secondary accounts have many uses, but these accounts are generally meant to update people of the person’s everyday life.

These secondary accounts are known as “spam accounts” or “fiestas.” The main difference between the two accounts mainly revolves around what the person posts. Main accounts, for most people, are only for occasional usage. They consist of pictures of aesthetically pleasing foods, places, “selfies,” group pictures, and more. The spam accounts, however, are used frequently. People with secondary accounts post daily updates on almost anything.

For the most part, spam accounts have enabled us to connect with our followers in a different perspective. Our followers are able to see other sides of us besides our picture perfect moments. Most spam accounts are set to private for only a selection of people to see. The follower range of spam accounts usually remains low (most people only allow close friends to view these accounts). Fun fact, here are reasons why many people use spam accounts: ranting, posting funny pictures, and anything not meant for the “general” public.  I asked a student why they decided to create a spam account and they replied, “I post funny pictures on there that I wouldn’t post on my regular account. The purpose is to make myself laugh and I was tired of posting pictures on my regular account and having to delete them. My main account is for pictures that fit my feed” (a feed is the preview of pictures you see when you click on a person’s account).

Throughout the year, expect to see more and more of your friends creating these secondary accounts. Who knows, you might even create one of your own!