Snapchat: A Guide For Parents Of Teens
Snapchat is a great example of the evolution of social media, giving teens pretty much everything they’re looking for in one app. It’s a way to creatively share your chosen moments with friends while still looking amazing.
A the same as all other social networking applications, video games and popular interest of teenagers, Snapchat has had a bad press, a lthough can be beneficial if used correctly.
This is a helpful guide for parents who want to learn more about the features and uses of Snapchat so that they can better understand the world of their child’s social media. Social media gurus, teen experts, and teens share their thoughts and suggestions on the app that is becoming more popular than even Instagram.
How does Snapchat work ?
As with most other social media apps, all it takes is your name, email address, date of birth, and smart handling to create an account and start looking for friends you know.
Then when you first open Snapchat, it opens to your camera. While other social networking applications depend on the text to start and continue communication, Snapchat uses photos or s naps . Teens use snaps to have fun and stay in touch with their friends.
Features and terminology
The best features of Snapchat are filters and video chat. Filters allow you to alter the appearance by using the camera to change facial features for fun. Video chat allows you to see yourself with your Snapchat friends , similar to Skype and FaceTime .
Below, don’t miss out on some terminologies you need to know.
Snap on Snapchat
A photo or video that is sent through the application. Videos can be up to 10 seconds long; the snaps are removed once have been. Stories allow snapshots to remain active for 24 hours, and unopened snapshots are deleted after 30 days. Before sending a snap , you have to choose how long you want your friend to see it (between 1 and 10 seconds).
stories
This is a gallery of photos and videos that all your Snapchat friends can see. They can also be put together with groups called “group story”, allowing certain people to contribute snaps to a “custom story”. There is also now a “private story” feature where only the people you choose can see what you post.
Snapstreak
Also called streaks , it is when you and a friend connect to each other (they are in a ” snapstreak “). But if you don’t get them back within 24 hours for three consecutive days, then you lose your streak.
If you are on snapstreak , you will see a flame emoji next to the name with a number showing how many days you have been. Chats (like text messages) do not count towards a snapstreak .
User ratings for Snapchat
This is basically a running count of snaps sent and received, friends added, stories you send, and any other activity in the application. It is not very important, but it is good to know.
Filter
Filters are overlays and special effects for images. There are thousands to choose from and they are added after the photo is taken. Geofilters are uniquely designed to suit your location. These have become increasingly popular with businesses to help raise awareness, as well as special events like concerts.
Snapchat lens
You give him the option to add animations and other special effects to the photos and videos before taking the snap . Teenagers (and adults) love this because you can transform photos however you want.
Snapcode
The snapcodes are scanned QR codes as another way to access features or add friends. You get a custom snapcode when you create an account. However, p ou can create snapcodes additional link to personal websites or blogs.
Memories
Instead of making everything temporary, this feature allows you to create an archive of your Snapchat posts . This is somewhat similar to Flashback Memories , which are anniversaries for your Snap Memories .
Snap map
This is a neat feature that shows your location in the world, as well as the locations of all your Snapchat friends, that way you have some visibility into what’s going on at the moment around the world. Ghost mode allows you to disable sharing your location.
Friends page
When you are on the camera screen, you can swipe right and find the friends list. Thus, teenagers can easily find the contacts of their friends with whom they want to share the funny images or videos.
Page “discover”. When on the camera screen, you can swipe left to find a display of “Publisher Stories” and other subscriptions that are displayed based on the interests and algorithms of each user.
Bitmoji
Bitmoji is another proprietary product of Snap Inc . It is a cartoon icon that is your own personal emoji. With this feature, you can create an expressive cartoon avatar that displays all kinds of moods and stickers that represent it.
Other features that you will see are Snapchat games, quizzes, friend charms, emojis and trophies, and plenty of editing and photography tools. You can always find out what’s new on the app’s website.
