You probably know about Snapchat if you have a tween or teen.
And if you’re stumped as to how it all works, you’re not alone; plenty of parents feel the same way.
As one of the most downloaded social media apps, Snapchat provides youngsters with a straightforward method of sharing mundane experiences while enhancing their cool factor.
Snapchat employs communications that are supposed to disappear (read more about how they don’t) in contrast to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which record and broadcast your every move.
Snapchat, like many social media apps, has both positive and negative aspects; as a parent, knowing how the app functions, how your kids use it, and how much time they spend on it will help you to ensure that their time on Snapchat is productive.
Kids are captivated by capturing and rapidly discarding fleeting images of daily life through photography. And that is mostly how they put Snapchat to use.
But that’s not all; the app also features games, news and entertainment, quizzes, and serialized series from major pop culture studios.
Snapchat is like a continual celebration since its collection of photo filters, effects, and other features is constantly growing and improving.
However, there are dangers associated with using the app: It’s not always safe for friends to be able to see each other’s locations on a map using Snap Map; kids can waste a lot of time trying to keep their Snapstreaks going; the content in Discover isn’t always appropriate for kids, and using Quick Add, kids can quickly add a large number of people they don’t know as friends.
Snapchat is a fun way for kids to communicate, but talking to them about privacy, safety, social media pressure, and marketing is essential.
For more information, see our comprehensive review.
The Snapchat
The popular Snapchat app allows its users to send each other time-limited multimedia messages (called “snaps”) that vanish from the recipient’s device once they’ve been viewed.
It’s marketed as a “new kind of camera,” Its primary use case is for taking photos and videos that can then be modified using filters, lenses, and other effects before being shared with loved ones.
To What End Does Snapchat Serve?
Include your name, email address, and date of birth to join.
Snapchatters are known for their handles, and they tend to be humorous.
You can search for people you may already know or import your contact list to expand your friend list quickly.
Snapping a picture of a user’s Snapcode—a custom QR code specific to that user—will also immediately add them to your contact list.
From there on out, it starts to get murky.
Snapchat users, more often than not begin conversations with one another through the exchange of images than words.
You can start a chat by tapping the large camera circle and taking a picture.
A wide variety of filters and editing tools are available to give your photos that extra special touch.
As soon as you’ve finished personalizing your snap, you may share it with everyone on your friend list, publish it to your story (a record of your day that your friends can access for 24 hours), or publish it to Snap Map (which displays your photo on a map of your location that anyone on Snapchat can view).
Snapchat’s many messaging and photo-editing features make it a popular app.
Snapchat isn’t just for one-on-one chats; it also supports group chats and collaborative stories to which everyone can add.
You can remove your text messages, albeit the recipients will know you deleted something if you use a group messaging service.
Unread Snaps that feature a previously downloaded photo can be deleted at any time (not taken on the spot).
Snaps that contain recently taken (but unsaved) photos cannot be removed.
Is There A Minimum Age Requirement For Snapchat?
User Agreement states that users must be at least 13 years old.
Creating an account requires a valid date of birth, but no other verification of age is performed, making it possible for children under 13 to do so.
Evaluations by Common Sense Media Due to the presence of advertising techniques like quizzes that collect data and the availability of age-inappropriate content, Snapchat is suitable for users over the age of 16.
What Tools And Settings Are Available For Snapchat Monitoring?
Unfortunately, unlike on other social media sites, there is no mechanism for parents to monitor their child’s behavior within the app.
There isn’t much to keep an eye on because there isn’t a feed like on Instagram.
If you’re going to use Snapchat, privacy settings should be a top priority. Involve your child by sitting with them and exploring the app’s configuration options together (the little gear icon next to your profile image).
Find out by looking under “Who Can…” Necessary privacy settings, such as who may see your location and story, can be adjusted here.
If your child has a Snapchat account, now is the time to have a conversation with them about how to use it safely and correctly.
Talk about how often you’ll check in to see how they’re doing with it and how they feel about it.
Tell them you get how crucial social media is to their lives, but you also have a responsibility to keep them safe.
Don’t be shy about asking your teen News to show off some of their photographs and the app’s excellent features they find helpful.
That’ll reassure you that you’re not alone and show that you’re all pulling in the same direction.
