Context: HO is an 18 year old college student who frequents instagram frequently and twitter infrequently. I, the interviewer am labeled as DJ.
HO: “Horny on main” means, like, you’re openly talking about something a lot on your public instagram.
DJ: Is it always on social media?
HO: I think it’s only on social media. I don’t know. I’ve never heard someone say that to me, like, outside of social media.
DJ: I’ve used it before not relating to social media.
HO: I never have. Who’s to say?
DJ: So, what does “on main” mean?
HO: It means on their main as opposed to their private Instagram story, or, like, “finsta.” Do I have to explain what “finsta” means?
DJ: Oh yes please.
HO: It’s where you have a smaller Instagram. Your immediate circle of friends usually follows it, so you can post whatever you want?
DJ: Where does the word come from?
HO: Fake instagram.
Analysis:
Both terms defined in the interview refer to a person having multiple social media accounts: one for the public eye and the other designated as a more private platform in which people can be their more authentic selves.
For further analysis regarding the social phenomenon “finsta” instagram accounts, see
Dewar, Sofia, et al. “Finsta: Creating” Fake” Spaces for Authentic Performance.” Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2019.