Snapchat and Kids: What Parents Want to Know

Parents worry about kids and social media. Snapchat is one of the most popular with kids and confusing for parents. Here are some of their questions.

KEY POINTS

• Kids are drawn to apps where they can connect easily with friends without being spied on by parents.
• Social media apps are designed to be psychologically engaging. It’s what makes them fun and hard to put down.
• Social media use can be positive and negative. How you use it matters.
• Critical thinking skills and open communication at home can keep kids safe while having fun online.

The questions I hear from parents show deep concerns about kids and social media use -especially post-pandemic. Snapchat is at the top of the list. This video and photo-sharing app raises anxiety because it is one of the most popular apps for tweens and teens. It has a lot of fun features, silly and glam filters, annotations, emojis, and augmented reality lenses, as well as locating mapping. But, unlike most other social media platforms, however, content on Snapchat expires or disappears. This makes parents super nervous. It also allows the tween or teen to feel more casual and intimate and less cautious by creating a false sense of security. Between screenshots and software hacks, nothing really disappears…