Snapchat originally made its debut in 2011. It focused on users interacting with each other via emoticons and interactive graphics. The idea of disappearing messages and media came from one of the founders, Evan Spiegel. He was applying for a job, and he frantically started untagging himself in posts and media on Facebook to better his chances. Thus, Snapchat’s disappearing abilities were born.
This social media platform quickly became the most used social media app in just under ten years. Through its Stories and Chats, users could send images, texts, and videos that could be played and would disappear within seconds. The sender could modify the seconds visible from one to ten seconds for videos and pictures. Though this was a fun concept, it quickly took off in the wrong direction. Parents started understanding the negativity around such a concept.
Snapchat Safety
Snapchat’s target audience is users between the ages of 13 and 19. This is a highly vulnerable age bracket, as many of these users are not socially aware of predators and scammers. Unfortunately, many teenagers believe that everyone is a friend and has their best interests in mind. Parents need to understand Snapchat’s features, so they can better prepare for their conversations with their teenagers.
Parents need to be open and honest when discussing Snapchat and other apps with their teenagers. Many users believe that once their Snap disappears, it’s no longer in existence. Snapchat users can screenshot the Snap before it’s gone. Now, this does notify the user who sent the message. However, Snapchat’s privacy policy specifically states how they can use information shared on their app, despite the “disappearing” feature. We recommend you use this information to have a practical discussion with your teenagers.
LEARN: Snapchat’s Privacy Policy
Snapchat Features
Besides disappearing messages and media (Snaps), Snapchat offers users ways to connect to others and mega-media platforms.
- Video Calls/Calls: The app allows users to call and connect with any user handle they may have. They could potentially call any person.
- Snap Map: Snapchat allows users to use their GPS to show their location wherever they travel. The Snap Map lists the user’s Bitmoji, places, and friends. You can refine by locations like county, city, etc. Users can even see other users’ Snaps. The GPS feature is pretty accurate, revealing the user’s location to anyone.
- Ghost Mode: This feature allows users to hide their location, so parents can use this feature to avoid potential predators from knowing their teenager’s location.
- Discover: Discover is a Snapchat feature that allows users to discover mega media platforms like New York Times and business profiles like Ulta, Traeger, and more. Unfortunately, there are also sections that can be detrimental to viewers like extreme plastic surgery or bad beauty trends.
- Snap Streaks: This is where users gain rewards for messaging other users daily, all in a large streak. Though this isn’t the worst feature for safety, it is time-consuming and paints an unrealistic perspective on communication.
Though there are other features, these are the most common ones for Snapchat.
Parental Controls
Snapchat had limited parental controls until October of 2021. Some of the privacy settings included a “My friends” default that has users limited to their friend’s list only for their Snaps. According to TechCrunch, there’s a new parental control called “Family Center” where parents can view their teen’s activity on Snapchat. This feature is an invite option for teenagers and their friends. Parents can see their kids’ friends and to who they sent messages within the last week. However, they cannot see the actual content their kids sent back and forth.
The ghost mode is a feature that we recommend all users use. Phones track most of our locations, so removing at least one tracking feature can benefit us all, but especially our kids.
DISCOVER: Tech Crunch
Monitoring Apps
With more social media apps come predators and scammers. (INSERT SOCIAL MEDIA SCAMS ARTICLE BACKLINK) Luckily, there’s been many new monitoring apps to help us keep track of our children, and how they interact with others.
MMGuardian This is Dale’s personal favorite and personal daily driver for his kids. MMGuardian give parents total control of their child’s phone. MMGuardian’s main feature includes discrete message monitoring and detailed message reports. Parents can add keywords of their choice to the Text Monitor sensitive words list. When necessary, parents can read their child’s sent and received text messages, even after deletion. With plans that start at $3.99 for a single child device or $7.99 a month for up to 5 child devices, MMGuardian is one of the best solutions we’ve seen.
Bark is a content monitoring app that parents can connect with their teenager’s social media accounts. Bark pays attention to all messages, media, and emails on over 30 plus apps. According to Bark, they look for “signs of issues like cyberbullying, sexual content, online predators, depression, suicidal ideation, threats of violence, and more.” Bark is a monitoring option with a fee. They offer a Bark Jr. at $5 a month, with a free trial, or a Bark Premium at $14 a month. Most users rate Bark at 4 out of 5 stars.
Net Nanny is another content monitoring app for parents. They focus their monitoring on inappropriate materials like pornography. Their site discusses blocking material since 1996. Their monitoring app costs substantially more, coming in at $39.99 for one computer and up to $89.99 for up to 20 devices. However, they have considerably fewer reviews.
Qustodio is another monitoring app that users rated just over 4 out of 5 stars. They have more affordable plans compared to Net Nanny, with their basic plan at $4.58 a month for up to five devices. Their biggest plan covers up to 15 devices at $11.50 a month.
The most important thing any parent can do is discuss the pros and cons of any social media and sharing content. The internet is a forever thing and although it has helped our world, it has also allowed scammers and predators to more easily prey upon the vulnerable.
