If you’re a parent of a tween or teen, Snapchat is likely a familiar term, even if its workings remain a mystery. For those over 25, understanding Snapchat can feel like deciphering a new language. This massively popular social media app resonates with younger generations because it offers a straightforward way to share everyday moments with friends while adding a touch of fun and creativity. Unlike platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which permanently archive your online activity, Snapchat is built around the concept of disappearing messages (though, as we’ll explore, this isn’t entirely the case). Like any social media platform, Snapchat presents both opportunities and challenges. To ensure your child’s experience is positive and safe, it’s essential to understand what Snapchat is, how it’s used, and how much time your kids are spending on it.
Beyond simple friend connections, Snapchat is packed with features that appeal to a younger audience. These include interactive games, news and entertainment content, engaging quizzes, and highly innovative photo and video editing tools. These tools are often so complex that they are difficult for adults to grasp – adding to the app’s appeal for tech-savvy kids.
The ephemeral nature of sharing moments on Snapchat – snapping, sharing, and then letting them vanish – is a core part of its draw for young users. For many, Snapchat is primarily used for lighthearted, everyday communication. The app’s design is playful, and its filters and effects often feature whimsical elements like rainbows and flower crowns. However, some features present potential risks. Snap Map can reveal a user’s location to friends, raising privacy concerns. Snapstreaks, which reward continuous daily interaction, can become a significant time commitment and source of pressure. Discover offers content that may not be suitable for all ages. With parental guidance focused on privacy, online safety, social media pressures, and marketing awareness, Snapchat can be a fun and connective tool for teenagers.
What Exactly IS Snapchat?
Snapchat is a widely-used messaging application that allows users to exchange photos and videos, known as “snaps,” which are designed to disappear after being viewed. It markets itself as “a new kind of camera” because its fundamental function is capturing a photo or video, enhancing it with filters, lenses, or other effects, and then sharing it with friends.
How Does Snapchat Actually Work?
Signing up for Snapchat requires only your name, email address, and date of birth. Users create a username, often opting for playful or quirky handles. To build your friend list, you can sync your phone contacts or search for specific users. Another unique friend-adding method is through “Snapcodes,” personalized QR codes that can be scanned to automatically add someone. Once you’re set up, Snapchat’s interface can initially feel a bit unconventional. Communication typically begins with photos, not text. To start a conversation, you tap the large camera icon and take a snap. A range of photo-editing tools and filters are available to customize your images – experimentation is key to discovering their functions. After customizing your snap, you can send it directly to individuals on your friends list or add it to your “Story.” A Story is a compilation of your day’s snaps that your friends can view for a 24-hour period. Snapchat also supports group chats and shared group stories where all members can contribute content.
Snapchat Age Restrictions: How Old Do You Need to Be?
Snapchat’s terms of service stipulate a minimum age of 13 for users. While age verification is requested during account setup through birth date entry, there is no robust system to prevent younger children from signing up. Common Sense Media suggests Snapchat is appropriate for teens aged 16 and older, primarily due to potential exposure to inappropriate content and marketing tactics, such as data-collecting quizzes.
Disappearing Messages: Do Snaps Really Vanish?
The concept of disappearing messages on Snapchat is nuanced. When a timer is set for a snap, it will disappear from view after the recipient opens it and the timer expires. However, recipients can easily take screenshots using their phone’s built-in functions or third-party screen-capture applications. While Snapchat notifies the sender when a standard phone screenshot is taken, third-party apps can bypass this notification. Therefore, it’s critical for teens to understand that online content is never truly temporary. Before sending any sensitive or potentially embarrassing snaps, whether of themselves or others, it’s essential to remember that these images could be easily saved and shared beyond their intended recipient.
What are Snapchat Snapstreaks?
Snapstreaks are formed when two Snapchat users exchange snaps back and forth within a 24-hour period for at least three consecutive days. Once a streak is established, special emojis and numerical counters appear next to the users’ names, indicating the streak’s length. Snapstreaks have become a significant element of Snapchat culture for several reasons. Firstly, they contribute to a user’s overall Snapchat score, a number that reflects app usage. Secondly, maintaining streaks can become surprisingly important to young users. Due to the strong social connections formed online, teens may perceive Snapstreaks as a measure of friendship. Breaking a streak can be seen as letting a friend down. In some cases, teens have even shared their account logins with friends to maintain streaks when they are unable to snap themselves (for example, if their phone is confiscated). This highlights the pressure, anxiety, and sense of obligation that Snapstreaks can generate. Understanding if your child is actively involved in Snapstreaks can offer insight into why sending a seemingly simple selfie might feel so crucial to them.
Image alt text: Snapchat app interface on a smartphone showing chat screen and camera button, illustrating social media platform usage.
Understanding Snap Map on Snapchat
Snap Map is a feature that displays your real-time location on a map. By default, only your Snapchat friends can see your location. If your friends have also enabled Snap Map, you can see their locations as well. Users have the option to disable location sharing or use “Ghost Mode,” which allows them to view the map without their own location being visible to others. Snap Map also integrates news and public events from around the world, displayed as icons on the map. The primary concern with Snap Map is the potential for a teen’s location to be visible to all of their Snapchat friends, some of whom may be casual acquaintances rather than close friends. Unless there’s a specific reason to share location, such as coordinating at an event, it’s generally advisable to keep Snap Map disabled or use Ghost Mode for enhanced privacy.
What is a Snapchat Story?
A Snapchat Story is a collection of photos and videos, presented sequentially to create a narrative of moments. Snapchat pioneered this format, which has since been adopted by other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Stories on Snapchat appear as circular icons. Tapping on a circle initiates autoplay of the user’s collected snaps. Users can create personal stories, visible to their friends for 24 hours. For snaps considered particularly interesting or newsworthy, users can submit them to “Our Story.” Our Stories are curated collections of snaps from various users, creating mini-documentaries of events, holidays, or significant happenings globally on a given day. While inclusion in Our Story can be exciting, it also means your snap becomes very public, so it’s important for kids to consider the implications before submitting content.
What is a Snapcode in Snapchat?
Upon signing up for Snapchat, each user receives a unique QR code called a Snapcode. When meeting someone new on Snapchat, instead of manually searching for usernames, you can simply take a snap of their Snapcode to automatically add them to your friends list. This ease of adding friends via Snapcodes, combined with potentially open privacy settings, can lead to teens accumulating a large friends list that includes virtual strangers. This can present various risks, making it essential to discuss with your teen about when it’s safe and appropriate to add new contacts on Snapchat.
Exploring Snapchat Discover
The Discover section of Snapchat offers content from celebrities, news outlets, entertainment channels, and other creators. Users can subscribe to specific Discover sources to receive their content feeds. While Discover includes legitimate news from publishers like the New York Times and Vice Media, much of the content is promotional and can often be geared towards a mature audience. However, if a user has correctly entered their birth date during signup, Snapchat filters out alcohol advertisements and other adult content for underage users. Discover stories frequently feature prompts encouraging users to “swipe up” for more information, which often leads to advertisements, or to take quizzes, which are typically marketing tools designed to collect user data. The content within Discover ranges widely in appropriateness, from harmless to potentially shocking, so it’s beneficial for parents to explore this section to understand what their children might be exposed to.
Other Snapchat Features to Know
Snapchat is far more than just sharing fun photos. Increased app usage leads to a higher Snapchat score, and high scores are rewarded with trophies and other in-app perks. Here are some additional Snapchat features:
- Face Lenses and World Lenses: Face lenses are the interactive filters that add animated features like cartoon animal ears to faces in snaps. World lenses are augmented reality elements, such as rainbows or 3D objects, that can be overlaid onto the real-world environment in your snaps. Technically, these lenses are “overlays” and some may be available for purchase within Snapchat.
- Geo-filters: These are location-specific filters that are unlocked when you are within a particular geographic area. Businesses often use geo-filters as a form of advertising, allowing customers to “check-in” virtually and promote the location. Individuals can also create custom geo-filters for events like parties.
- Snapcash: Similar to payment apps like PayPal or Venmo, Snapcash allows users to send money to each other directly through Snapchat.
- Memories: If you want to save snaps instead of having them disappear immediately, you can store them in Memories to send later or revisit.
- Snap Store: This is an in-app marketplace where users can purchase Snapchat-branded merchandise and related items.
- Shazam: Integrated Shazam functionality helps users identify songs playing around them directly within the Snapchat app.
Is Snapchat Safe for Tweens and Teens?
For the majority of young users, Snapchat is primarily used for casual fun and staying connected with friends. While there is some mature content available on the platform, it is generally considered appropriate for teens aged 16 and older. However, there are three key areas of potential risk to be aware of:
- The Myth of Disappearing Messages: In Snapchat’s early days, it was sometimes labeled a “sexting app” due to the perception that intimate photos would automatically vanish. While any app can be misused, the belief in truly disappearing messages can create a false sense of security. It is vital for teens to understand that shared content can be saved, distributed, and may never truly disappear from the internet. This conversation is best had before they start using Snapchat, but it’s never too late. Discuss peer pressure to send inappropriate images and emphasize that someone who pressures them in this way does not have their best interests at heart. Also, stress the importance of asking permission before sharing pictures of others.
- Time Consumption: Snapchat is designed to be highly engaging, with a wealth of features to explore. Features like Snapstreaks and Stories can create a sense of urgency and obligation, making users feel compelled to constantly check the app. If you notice your child becoming stressed or feeling that Snapchat is no longer just for fun, it’s time to intervene and discuss healthy app usage.
- Privacy and Safety Concerns: The ease of adding friends on Snapchat can lead to large friend lists that include many people users don’t know well. Depending on privacy settings, Snapchat can collect significant data about user habits both within and outside the app. Snapchat also shares user data with various third-party partners.
How to Monitor Snapchat and Adjust Privacy Settings
A significant challenge for parents is the lack of direct monitoring tools for Snapchat, unlike some other social media platforms. There is no central feed to easily review your child’s activity. Instead, parental focus should be on understanding and managing privacy settings. If you decide to allow your child to use Snapchat, sit down with them and review the app’s settings together (accessible via the gear icon on the profile screen). Navigate to the “Who Can…” section. This is where you can control crucial privacy features, such as who can see their location on Snap Map and who can view their Stories. This is an ideal opportunity to have an open conversation about using Snapchat safely and responsibly. Discuss how often you will check in with them about their Snapchat use and how they are feeling about their experiences on the app. Reassure them that you understand social media is important to them, but your role as a parent is to ensure their safety and well-being. Finally, ask your teen to show you some of their favorite snaps and features on the app. This can help demystify Snapchat for you and demonstrate to your child that you are supportive and interested in understanding their digital world.
©2018 Common Sense Media Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Citation: Everything you need to know about Snapchat (2018, June 18) retrieved 19 February 2025 from https://phys.org/news/2018-06-snapchat.html
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