Snapchat. It is one of the fastest growing social media apps, and I won’t lie, it is one of my favorite apps to use, yet it is one of the most confusing apps to parents and their children. The purpose of this post is not to discourage the use of this app but simply to inform both parents and children what they are getting into when they download Snapchat.
For those of you who don’t know what Snapchat is, Snapchat is a social media app where users can send photos to a friend. The photos only appear on the phone screen for a matter of seconds or until the friend closes the app, thus creating the illusion that the photo was “deleted” after it was opened. In addition to sending photos, Snapchat has also added the feature of “My Story” which is where the user can take a photo or video and share it to all of their followers. Because of the confusing nature of Snapchat we have made the three basic warnings to be aware of when your child downloads it.
Snapchat is not a terrible app. I use it every day. However, parents should be aware of what their child is using on their smartphones and how they can talk with their child about the potentially harms their child can face when using popular social media channels.