As one of the most popular social media apps in the United States, Snapchat use amongst teens is high. Known for its “disappearing” messages, parents fear teens might misuse the app by sending inappropriate photos to other users. This begs the question: does Snapchat have Parental Controls?
Although the app doesn’t offer an official means of monitoring your teen’s activity, there are measures you can take to ensure your child’s safety and security while using the app.
How Snapchat Works
Since its debut, Snapchat has been a cause of concern for parents who believe the short life span of the app’s messages encourages teen users to send sexy and potentially-incriminating photos of each other.
Snapchat has also received backlash for promoting violent and sexually-charged content on its Discover page.
Photos and videos, known as “snaps,” are displayed in three main ways:
- Snaps personally sent to friends are gone once viewed.
- Snaps sent in groups can be viewed once by each member.
- Snaps added to stories are public for 24 hours.
Although snaps “disappear” after one viewing, that doesn’t necessarily mean they get automatically deleted from Snapchat’s servers. According to Snapchat’s privacy policy, most—but not all—snaps are deleted after they are opened or after they expire. Unopened snaps don’t expire until after 30 days.
Users can also replay snaps, screenshot pictures, and screen record any videos they receive using third-party apps. As secure a social media site may seem, it’s still a social platform. And on such platforms, nothing is private. So parents shouldn’t be afraid to talk to their teens about how social media can impact their future.
