“Always stay light, bright and polite on social media!”

The message of the guest speaker who has spoken at Blue Valley on multiple occasions still resonates with many of us as either a distant, unattainable goal for our social media accounts — or mockingly, as a phrase to remind our friends of when they post something a little too risky.

Regardless, for those of us who heard his message, we remember it.

The reality of social media accounts is scary.

Scarier than we like to think about.

In 2014, 93 percent of job recruiters reported reviewing prospective employees’ social media accounts before deciding whether to hire them, according to Time.com.

In the same report, recruiters cited profanity, grammatical errors, illegal drug references, sexual posts, political affiliations, alcohol and guns as factors which can cause negative reconsiderations about a job candidate’s qualifications.

Volunteer work is the only cited factor associated with positive reconsiderations.

It’s no wonder we are living in the era of finstas.

For many of us, in order to be ‘light, bright and polite,’ on Instagram, we have to be fake.

Ironically, finstas are the only place we can be real.

Especially for those of us with public Instagram accounts, with every photo we post, we are broadcasting to a variety of different people and personalities.

Close friends.

Not-so-close friends.

Your crush.

Family members.

Former teachers.

Co-workers.

The neighbor kid you babysit.

If our social media accounts are meant to maintain a specific image, one approved by all our followers — and potential employees, how are we expected to show our genuine selves on such a permanent platform — a platform where there’s no room for regret?

The only fully effective way to maintain perfectly pristine to job recruiters would be if we didn’t post about our lives outside of volunteering, going on college visits and spending time with our families.

And that just isn’t realistic.

Finstas allow us to closely control who we allow privy to the glimpse into the imperfect, yet authentic version of our lives.

Finstas allow us a place where we can share photos with our friends without worrying about being judged.

They give us the relaxing, creative outlet to post whatever failed selfies and pet photos we appreciate, without the stress of having to please all of our followers while maintaining image.

We can do our stupid teenage stuff without true fear of repercussion.

Finstas are a part of our culture and they’re not expected to be leaving anytime soon.

Whether you have a finsta, follow finstas or are hearing about finstas for the very first time, they should be accepted for what they are.

They are what Instagram accounts should be, and perhaps what they once were before we feared judgement.