Snapchat was launched in 2011 (then called “Picaboo”) by two Stanford college kids. When a friend of theirs felt bad about sending a picture to someone, that gave them the inspiration to brand their million dollar idea. Developing an app where pictures could be shared but then disappear within seconds was genius!
Teenagers are the largest demographic on Snapchat, where more than 100 million users share more than 400 million snapshots. So, is this really a good thing or bad thing? Snapchat may be entertaining and great for kids and teenagers but perhaps not for all parents. Are teenagers snapping away revealing photos? With hackers, it’s possible to find downloaded explicit pictures that are out there. Within a “snap”, pictures or videos appear, but then gone the next. Or… maybe not. Last year, it was reported that millions of Snapchat accounts got hacked. I guess that isn't stopping anyone from continuing to snap away!
Like any fairly new designed app, I’m sure Snapchat is attempting to minimize hacker capability, but for now, be assured that whatever “snap” your child is taking, it may be not be disappearing as quickly as you think. Kids and teens make up for more than 70% of Snapchat users while only 5% of users are 30-49 yrs. old and 3% are 50-64 yr. olds. So, what does this tell you? A) We’re not snap happy parents! and B) We can’t check any content after it vanishes!