A Guide to Snapchat: Understanding the App and Keeping Young People Safe

This article was written by Kayelene Kerr from eSafeKids.

In today's digital age, social media platforms are an integral part of young peoples lives. One app that has gained immense popularity is Snapchat. As a parent, it’s essential to understand how Snapchat works, its features and how you can support your young persons health, wellbeing and safety while using it.

This blog will provide you with an overview of Snapchat.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a multimedia messaging app that allows users to send photos and videos (called 'Snaps') that disappear after being viewed. It also features stories that can be viewed for 24 hours and various interactive features such as filters, lenses and Bitmojis. Snapchat is particularly popular among young people due to its ephemeral nature, which adds a layer of privacy that they often find appealing. Put simply, young people love the ephemeral nature of Snapchat and parents dislike it.

Snapchat User Name

Encourage young people to choose a username that doesn’t include their age, birthdate, personal information or suggestive language.

Entering Correct Date of Birth

Entering the correct age when setting up Snapchat is important for several reasons. Snapchat has age restrictions in place to comply with laws regarding data privacy and protection for minors. Users must be at least 13 years old to create an account, and providing the correct age helps ensure that the platform is used by individuals who meet this requirement.

More importantly, Snapchat tailors content and features based on a users' age. For example, younger users may have access to different features or restrictions to protect them from inappropriate content. By knowing a user's correct age, Snapchat can implement safety measures and provide resources that are appropriate for different age groups, helping to create a safer environment for younger teens.

Whilst a date of birth is required to set-up a Snapchat account, it's not verified, making it easy for young people to provide incorrect information.

Key Features of Snapchat

Snapchat offers a unique way for friends to connect, making it a social hub for many young people. The disappearing nature of Snaps appeals to teens who value privacy. They feel their content is less permanent than on other platforms. The app allows for creative expression through filters and lenses, making it fun to capture and share moments with friends.

Snaps

Photos or videos that users can send to friends. After being viewed, they disappear.

Stories

A collection of Snaps that can be viewed by friends for 24 hours. This allows users to share their daily experiences. Users can see whose viewed their stories. Users can also view stories posted by other people including influencers and celebrities.

Chat

Users can send text messages, voice notes or video calls, which also disappear after being viewed.

Snap Map

A feature that allows users to share their location with friends. This can be concerning for privacy and safety. Below I'll share how to manage this feature.

Discover

A section for users to view content from publishers and creators, including news, entertainment and lifestyle.

Filters and Lenses

Fun augmented reality features that add effects to photos and videos, making sharing more engaging.

Snap Spotlight

Snap Spotlight is Snapchat's platform for user-generated short videos, similar to TikTok or Instagram Reels. Users can create and share entertaining clips and the platform showcases popular content, allowing users to discover and interact with a wide variety of videos. Spotlight also includes a monetisation feature, where creators can earn money based on the performance of their content.

My Eyes Only

'My Eyes Only' is a privacy feature that allows users to store sensitive Snaps in a password-protected section of the app. This is especially useful for keeping private moments away from the main Snap feed. You can access it by creating a separate passcode, ensuring that only you can view the Snaps stored there. Don't forget the passcode, it can't be reset! This feature can hamper parental supervision and oversight.

Snapchat Scores

Your Snapchat score is a numerical representation of your activity on the app. It increases when you send and receive Snaps, post Stories and engage with other users. While the exact algorithm for calculating the score isn’t public, it’s generally seen as a fun way to gauge your Snap activity compared to friends.

Streaks

Snapstreaks occur when you and a friend send each other Snaps (not Chats) for consecutive days. When two users share Snaps within 24 hours for multiple days a Snapstreak is formed. The streak is represented by a flame emoji and a number showing how many days the streak has lasted. Maintaining a streak can be a fun challenge for friends, and users often set reminders to keep it going! Some users experience anxiety about the streak being broken. When two users share Snaps within 24 hours for multiple days a Snapstreak is formed. If the steak is broken the user can pay to restore the streak.

Cameos

Cameos are a way to create personalised short videos featuring your face. You can select a background and a scenario, and Snapchat will insert your face into the scene, making for fun and humorous content. It's a unique way to engage with friends through playful animations and can be used in chats.

Snap Code

A Snapcode is a unique, scannable code that Snapchat users can create and share to make it easier for others to add them as friends. Snapcodes can be shared in various ways, through social media or directly on the app, making it easy for users to connect without needing to search for usernames.

Saving Snaps

Snaps shared to 'My Story' disappear after 24 hours, but you can save them by selecting the option to 'Save' before posting. This will keep them in your Memories. If someone takes a screenshot of a Snap you’ve sent, you’ll be notified, but saving to Memories or My Eyes Only doesn't trigger any alerts.

Potential Risks of Snapchat

While Snapchat can be a fun platform for teens, it also has its share of risks. Here are some concerns parents should be aware of:

Inappropriate Content & Contact

Despite its privacy features, there’s still potential for users to send or receive inappropriate images or messages and connect with unsafe people.

Cyberbullying

Like many social media platforms, Snapchat can be a place for cyberbullying, which can be harmful to young people's mental health and wellbeing.

Location Sharing

The Snap Map feature can expose your child’s location to friends or strangers, which can pose safety risks.

FOMO

The 24-hour story feature can create a fear of missing out (FOMO), encouraging users to constantly check for updates.

Screen Time and Unhealthy Habits

The app’s engaging features can lead to excessive screen time, impacting sleep, schoolwork and real-life interactions.

Peer Pressure

Teens may feel pressured to share more than they are comfortable with or to engage in risky behaviours.

Parental Controls and Safety Features on Snapchat: Minimising Risks

Snapchat offers several parental controls and safety features designed to help protect users, particularly younger ones. As a parent, understanding these tools can empower you to support your child’s online safety. Here’s a breakdown of the key features and how to use them effectively.

Privacy Settings

Snapchat allows users to customise their privacy settings to control who can send them Snaps and view their Stories. Here’s how to set it up:

Open Settings

Tap your profile icon in the top-left corner, then tap the gear icon to access settings.

Who Can

Under the 'Who Can' section, you can limit who can contact your child or view their content. Options include:

Contact Me

Change this to 'My Friends' to limit messages to known contacts.

View My Story

Set this to 'My Friends' or 'Custom' to restrict who can see their Stories.

See My Location

Set this to 'My Friends' or turn off Snap Map to prevent location sharing.

See Me in Quick Add

Set this to off

Mobile Number

Let others find me using my mobile number, set this to off.

Manage Location Sharing

Snap Maps

The Snap Map feature can pose safety risks, as it shows users' real-time locations.

Disable Location Sharing

Under the 'Who Can' section See My Location

Go to your child's profile, tap 'See My Location', and choose 'Ghost Mode'. This prevents anyone from seeing their location.

Limit Friends on Snap Map

If they prefer to keep Snap Map enabled, encourage them to only share their location with trusted friends. This can also be customised to 'My Friends', 'My Friends Except' and 'Only These Friends'.

Snapchat Family Centre: Parental Controls

To use Family Center, parents must have a Snapchat account. Here are instructions on how to download the app and set up Family Center:

1. Start by downloading Snapchat from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to your mobile phone.

2. Open the app and tap ‘Sign Up’ to create an account. Once you enter all the relevant information as prompted, you can create your Snapchat username.

3. Ask your teen for their username so you can add them as a friend. Once you have their username, you can search for it using the search bar at the Camera screen’s top-left corner.

4. Once your teen has accepted your friend request, you’ll be ready to get started with Family Center.

5. There are two ways to access Family Center on Snapchat: 

   
   

   1) You can use the search bar. Search relevant terms such as 'safety', 'family', or 'parent' and Family Center will appear. 
   

   2) Or, head to Settings (gear icon), located in the top-right corner of your Profile Page (located at the top left corner across all tabs), where Family Center has a permanent home.

6. Once you open Family Center, you’ll need to invite your teen to join. Your teen will receive an invitation card, and they must opt in to participate.

7. Teens need to tap ‘Accept,’ and you’ll both be notified that the status of the invitation has been updated.

8. Now, you can use Family Center to see who your teens are talking to and set Content Controls.

Parent's Guide to Snapchat

For more information about Snapchat visit the Parent's Guide to Snapchat. This includes Snapchat 101, Safeguards for Teens, Tools and Resources and Reporting a Concern.

A Final Thought

Snapchat can be a fun and engaging platform for teens, but it comes with risks that parents should not overlook. By understanding the app, maintaining open communication with your children and setting clear boundaries you can help your kids navigate Snapchat more safely. Remember, the goal is not to control their online presence but to guide them in making responsible choices in the digital world.

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About The Author

Kayelene Kerr is recognised as one of Western Australia’s most experienced specialist providers of Protective Behaviours, Body Safety, Cyber Safety, Digital Wellness and Pornography education workshops. Kayelene is passionate about the prevention of child abuse and sexual exploitation, drawing on over 27 years’ experience of study and law enforcement, investigating sexual crimes, including technology facilitated crimes. Kayelene delivers engaging and sought after prevention education workshops to educate, equip and empower children and young people, and to help support parents, carers, educators and other professionals. Kayelene believes protecting children from harm is a shared responsibility and everyone can play a role in the care, safety and protection of children. Kayelene aims to inspire the trusted adults in children’s lives to tackle sometimes challenging topics.

About eSafeKids

eSafeKids strives to reduce and prevent harm through proactive prevention education, supporting and inspiring parents, carers, educators and other professionals to talk with children, young people and vulnerable adults about protective behaviours, body safety, cyber safety, digital wellness and pornography. eSafeKids is based in Perth, Western Australia.

eSafeKids provides books and resources to teach children about social and emotional intelligence, resilience, empathy, gender equality, consent, body safety, protective behaviours, cyber safety, digital wellness, media literacy, puberty and pornography.

eSafeKids books can support educators teaching protective behaviours and child abuse prevention education that aligns with the Western Australian Curriculum, Australian Curriculum, Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and National Quality Framework: National Quality Standards (NQS).