Tricky territory that tech is taking teens

The Snapchat logo is displayed on a mobile phone, March 1, 2017 in Glendale, California. PHOTO | ROBYN BECK | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Snapchat allows users to set a 1-second to 10-second expiration of the photo.
  • On average, 158 million people use Snapchat daily globally, and more than 2.5 billion Snaps are created every day.
  • Once the application is downloaded from the App Store or from Google Play, the user registers and sets a password.

If you have not heard of Snapchat app, don’t count yourself young. Snapchat is an app that lets people, mainly teenagers, send each other photos and short videos that disappear after being viewed.

Unlike sending photos or text messages in other ways, Snapchat allows users to set a 1-second to 10-second expiration of the photo.

With this short viewing window, users can send time-limited photos that might be embarrassing or just silly, without a significant fear that it will find its way to other social media sites where it might live forever.

On average, 158 million people use Snapchat daily globally, and more than 2.5 billion Snaps are created every day.

Parents, this is how Snapchat app works. Once the application is downloaded from the App Store or from Google Play, the user registers and sets a password. It then accesses the contacts on the cell phone to load friends to the application, or you can add other friends beyond your contact list.

CAN TAKE PHOTO

Once you load the app and login, you can take a photo, edit it and add a caption. Then you select the friends to send the photo to and set a timer from 1 to 10 seconds.

Once the photo message is sent, the receiver has the time set by the timer after they access the app to look at the photo before the message “self-destructs.”

Friends can then take their own photo to reply or just send a message back. The app obviously works well when all parties have immediate access to their phones.

Snapchat was launched in 2011 by two former Stanford University students. It was designed as a place where you could say and do whatever you wanted without fear that it would leave a permanent mark on your record.

You could snap a selfie — clothing optional — add some scribbled text, and send it to a friend, and he’d have 10 seconds to view it before it disappeared from his phone forever.

Some teens assume that because video and photo texts, or “Snaps” as they are called, disappear in just a few seconds the app is totally harmless. However, photos can be saved as screenshots. This is worrisome for parents because they have no control over what comes across their teenager’s screen at any given moment. It also could become fodder for future cyber bullying.

Even for children who are careful and use precaution in what they send out, and to whom they send it to, the fact exists that once anything it posted online, it is public — even if the picture disappears in a matter of seconds. It’s still possible for anything you post to catch up with you.

One more point. If you have a software package that allows you to see the content of your child’s phone remotely online, you will not be able to see what was sent and then automatically deleted. That may raise some concerns.

There is a legitimate concern that Snapchat could be used for “sexting” — sending sexually suggestive pictures or even nude pictures.

Parents who allow their children to use Snapchat need to have a real, one-on-one chat with them about the risks associated with the false sense of security that the app may provide.

Parents and guardians should help teens realise that with the screen capture capability, it’s possible for private pictures to be circulated on the Internet. These children are walking on some treacherous territories and need to know the snares there-in. Internet never forgets; least of all, it never forgives.

Wambugu is an informatics specialist. [email protected]. @samwambugu2