If asked what the most popular social media platform for today’s youth is, the debates will probably fall onto Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat.
“In the United States, YouTube has become the most popular social media platform for the 13 to 17-year-olds, with 85% of them using it,” according to research done by the University of Minnesota Extension.
“In addition, 72% of the teens use Instagram, 69% use Snapchat, 51% use Facebook, and it’s estimated that 69% of US teens are monthly TikTok users.”
Social media certainly has changed the way we interact with each other and the way we form relationships.
But with this new “realm” created by digital technology, the risks of getting oneself in danger without others knowing also skyrocket.
After a few months of development, Snapchat has announced its new in-application tool for parents: Family Center.
The tool aims to help parents learn about their teens’ social circle on the application, but they won’t be able to see the actual conversation or content.
As the company stated in their announcement, “(Family Center) will help parents get more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat, and who they have been communicating with, without revealing any of the substance of those conversations.”
The experience would be similar to when you know your kids are upstairs in their rooms with their friends or you drop them off at their friend’s house.
cherryandbees – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
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You know who they hang out with, but you won’t know the exact conversation or activities.
The new tool is an opt-in on both ends, meaning the teens would have to agree before the parents can operate the device—on their own Snapchat accounts.
It could be hard to set new boundaries when it comes to safety.
But by working on mutual agreements, Snapchat also hopes to protect its young users’ autonomy and privacy.
If parents sense any suspicious accounts approaching their kids, they can report those accounts to Snapchat’s Trust and Safety Team without alerting the child.
Through this feature, the tech company also hopes to raise awareness and encourage the topics of online safety between parents and teens.
Besides the parental way, Snapchat also launched a few new features to raise the protection of their teen users, based on the company’s website:
One: “By default, teens must be mutual friends before they can start communicating.”
Two: “Friend lists are private, and we don’t allow teens to have public profiles.”
Three: “And we have protections to make it harder for strangers to find teens. For example, teens only show up as a “suggested friend” or in search results in limited instances, like if they have mutual friends in common.”
Snapchat promises to keep updating its features for content control to serve its users and their preferred dynamics better.
What are your opinions on the app’s update? Do you agree this feature will gain protection for teenagers?
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