4 ms·

As a teenager (probably a bit younger than the average HN reader) there's definitely been a change in how we approach social media. Most kids now take advantage

As a teenager (probably a bit younger than the average HN reader) there's definitely been a change in how we approach social media. Most kids now take advantage of privacy settings to moderate who can see what messages, often creating private or "fake" accounts that only a few friends can see that contrast with their "public" accounts. Ironically the "fake" accounts are more "real" due to the more honest and realistic posts that they only allow their friends to see. Even in public settings, people are moving away from only showing "perfect" images instead favoring a more realistic image.

zlynx 9y ago
With so many people wanting to abuse our social media profiles, it only makes sense to use fake accounts. That way our "real" one looks OK to our employers, parents, acquaintances, etc. Our fake profiles can have all of what we actually think.
legitster 9y ago
Wouldn't all of the private groups and secret messages make it worse? School for me was cliquey enough as it was, without the assistance of technology. It seems this would blow that up by an order of magnitude..
hbosch 9y ago
> often creating private or "fake" accounts that only a few friends can see that contrast with their "public" accounts The younger sister of a family friend called this a "sin-stagram", but some people also call them by the more family-friendly "fun-stagrams" or "funstas". Kind of a hilarious concept, creating multiple social media accounts for multiple sides of your personality. Coincidentally I was reading an article today about a YouTuber who was doing this same sort of thing. A famous, promoted, well-followed channel with his regular content (music reviews), and secondary accounts for alt-right meme commentary (which was shut down recently). I guess it makes sense... but for some weird reason I find it weirdly grotesque*. It's like containerization for your life: stream my optimism to my family, stream my partying to my friends, stream my depression to strangers... keep them all separated and you have can maintain (and in the above YouTuber's case, monetize?) multiple digital lives. Another interesting tidbit was a friend of mine who just graduated med school and started their residency. This person changed the names/handles on all their social media accounts, because patients have a habit of trying to search for their doctors on Facebook and Instagram. Apparently this causes issues from time to time in the doctor/patient relationship, so it's common practice among many in the medical field. ——— 0. https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/03/needle-drop-deleted-youtube-channel-this-is-the-plan https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/03/needle-drop-deleted-yout...
- nradov 9y ago
  Another common term is "finsta", as in "fake Instagram". In principle I don't see anything wrong with compartmentalization and maintaining different online identities, although it can be misused to hide some really ugly behavior.
- Zarath 9y ago
  As a thatistheplan subscriber and frequent watcher. I will say that while some of Anthony Fantano's political opinions could be considered in alignment with the alt-right, I definitely don't think he is a member (and in fact was likely a Bernie Sanders supporter). You can check some of his other commentary on channels such as fantano and theneedledrop and it's pretty clear his politics is much more nuanced than just being a member of the alt-right.
- Can_Not 9y ago
  You also have people who don't know whether or not their relatives finding out about a tattoo, a joint smoked once, a non-objectively-default religious belief, alternative sex/gender preferences/orientations, a non-ear peircing, a non-traditional gender role, etc. will result in being screamed at daily at home, conversion camps, homelessness, bullying, ruin the next 30 thanksgivings, and/or likely other forms of child abuse. So I think it's grotesque that there is legitimate danger in being yourself.
- cableshaft 9y ago
  > patients have a habit of trying to search for their doctors on Facebook and Instagram. Apparently this causes issues from time to time in the doctor/patient relationship, so it's common practice among many in the medical field. Also very true for teachers, whose students will inevitably look them up. I have several teacher friends that either don't use social media at all, or have changed their names to make it harder for them to be found on there. I keep in touch with them via a private group text, which I'm much more active on than social media.
Atheros 9y ago
This is an obvious effect of Mark Zuckerburg refusing to believe in privacy contexts. Users have routed around the problem by using different accounts themselves for the different privacy contexts.
Terr_ 9y ago
As an older millennial, that feels more like a (beneficial) return to the past, where "On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog." IMO the real issue isn't privacy controls per se, but the ability to keep disconnected identities. For example, I might not really care if a photo is visible to everybody, as long as it has no clues (location metadata, facial recognition, etc.) that allow someone to link it to my public persona.

zlynx 9y ago

With so many people wanting to abuse our social media profiles, it only makes sense to use fake accounts. That way our "real" one looks OK to our employers, parents, acquaintances, etc. Our fake profiles can have all of what we actually think.

legitster 9y ago

Wouldn't all of the private groups and secret messages make it worse? School for me was cliquey enough as it was, without the assistance of technology. It seems this would blow that up by an order of magnitude..

hbosch 9y ago

> often creating private or "fake" accounts that only a few friends can see that contrast with their "public" accounts The younger sister of a family friend called this a "sin-stagram", but some people also call them by the more family-friendly "fun-stagrams" or "funstas". Kind of a hilarious concept, creating multiple social media accounts for multiple sides of your personality. Coincidentally I was reading an article today about a YouTuber who was doing this same sort of thing. A famous, promoted, well-followed channel with his regular content (music reviews), and secondary accounts for alt-right meme commentary (which was shut down recently). I guess it makes sense... but for some weird reason I find it weirdly grotesque*. It's like containerization for your life: stream my optimism to my family, stream my partying to my friends, stream my depression to strangers... keep them all separated and you have can maintain (and in the above YouTuber's case, monetize?) multiple digital lives. Another interesting tidbit was a friend of mine who just graduated med school and started their residency. This person changed the names/handles on all their social media accounts, because patients have a habit of trying to search for their doctors on Facebook and Instagram. Apparently this causes issues from time to time in the doctor/patient relationship, so it's common practice among many in the medical field. ——— 0. https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/03/needle-drop-deleted-youtube-channel-this-is-the-plan https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/03/needle-drop-deleted-yout...

nradov 9y ago
Another common term is "finsta", as in "fake Instagram". In principle I don't see anything wrong with compartmentalization and maintaining different online identities, although it can be misused to hide some really ugly behavior.
Zarath 9y ago
As a thatistheplan subscriber and frequent watcher. I will say that while some of Anthony Fantano's political opinions could be considered in alignment with the alt-right, I definitely don't think he is a member (and in fact was likely a Bernie Sanders supporter). You can check some of his other commentary on channels such as fantano and theneedledrop and it's pretty clear his politics is much more nuanced than just being a member of the alt-right.
Can_Not 9y ago
You also have people who don't know whether or not their relatives finding out about a tattoo, a joint smoked once, a non-objectively-default religious belief, alternative sex/gender preferences/orientations, a non-ear peircing, a non-traditional gender role, etc. will result in being screamed at daily at home, conversion camps, homelessness, bullying, ruin the next 30 thanksgivings, and/or likely other forms of child abuse. So I think it's grotesque that there is legitimate danger in being yourself.
cableshaft 9y ago
> patients have a habit of trying to search for their doctors on Facebook and Instagram. Apparently this causes issues from time to time in the doctor/patient relationship, so it's common practice among many in the medical field. Also very true for teachers, whose students will inevitably look them up. I have several teacher friends that either don't use social media at all, or have changed their names to make it harder for them to be found on there. I keep in touch with them via a private group text, which I'm much more active on than social media.

Atheros 9y ago

This is an obvious effect of Mark Zuckerburg refusing to believe in privacy contexts. Users have routed around the problem by using different accounts themselves for the different privacy contexts.

Terr_ 9y ago

As an older millennial, that feels more like a (beneficial) return to the past, where "On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog." IMO the real issue isn't privacy controls per se, but the ability to keep disconnected identities. For example, I might not really care if a photo is visible to everybody, as long as it has no clues (location metadata, facial recognition, etc.) that allow someone to link it to my public persona.