Does your kid have a 'finsta' account? Why it's a big deal

Most of us are aware of Instagram, the popular photo sharing app leaving us taking pics of our food or creating that dramatic selfie.

But have you ever heard of the "finsta," a combination of the words "fake" and "Instagram" used to represent someone's hidden, personal account?

The "finsta" is a second Instagram account many users will maintain, and its content is quite different from their real ("rinsta") account.

Think of the "rinsta" as a public persona, where users will share curated images, whereas a "finsta" is a more unfiltered experience.

"On my finsta, it's the good, the bad and the ugly. It's a more multifaceted version of me," said 17-year-old Esther Choi in an interview with Mic.

According to Brooke Erin Duffy, an assistant professor of communication at Cornell University, the main reason some of her students have a "finsta" account is fear of monitoring from employers. 

"Such acts of digital self-surveillance make sense against the backdrop of widespread media coverage of social media gaffes," wrote Duffy in a piece on Quartz. "We often hear about employees losing their jobs after publishing a distasteful image or a tactless tweet."

A user's real Instagram might have several thousand followers, but a "finsta" features a much smaller following, consisting mostly of friends and family.

Should parents worry? It's social media, so any rules surrounding appropriate information to share is always good to remember.

But social media coach Laura Tierney tells Today parents shoudn't fear the "finsta," so long as they're aware of what they post, even if it's private.

"Even if you are hiding behind a username not associated with your name, who is to say that someone can’t screenshot it and post it to the Internet and have that be tied to your name in a Google search result?"

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.