Gone are the days when just a single Instagram account existed for each person. You might be curious as to why someone would want to make multiple accounts? Or, maybe you just want to know what the terms "stan" or "finsta" mean, but you're too embarrassed to ask. Well, we're here to ensure that you walk out of this with more knowledge than you ever needed (or wanted) on Instagram accounts. Thank us later!
Stan Account
What It Is: Stan refers to someone that is either obsessed, or incredibly infatuated, with a person of influence or public interest – such as celebrities. Stan accounts allow fans to share their love for their 'idol' by posting daily updates, OOTD (outfit of the day), personal life events, and new releases from movies and, or, songs belonging to the person they're stanning over.
How to Distinguish a Stan Account: The username incorporates the celeb or person they "stan" in the username. These accounts are quite secretive about their personal life and rarely, if ever post pictures or updates of their own lives.
How They Operate: Stan accounts are either run by one person or multiple people, who all stan the same person.
Spam Account
What It Is: You may have heard someone say, 'did you see what I posted on my spam last night' and wondered to yourself what they meant… Nope, they were not referring to the spam folder in your mailbox but to an Instagram account where they post pictures that they otherwise wouldn't post on their main accounts. This is usually because of one, or all, three reasons: the post didn't meet the theme of their main account, it was too embarrassing to post, or, the post simply didn't cut – but they liked it anyway.
How to Distinguish a Spam Account: The username of spam accounts is usually '*insert name*spam' or '*insert name*priv.'
The Content: The content of a spam account is different for everyone. It might include messy morning hair selfies for some, and random embarrassing videos for others. The people who follow spam accounts are usually close friends that have seen you at your worst and your best so nothing you post would faze them too much. So, it's not a showcase of your 'best' life, it's more of a collection of the good, the funny, and the bad.