My Snapchat Primer for Parents

How to even get started

It’s Snapchat time!

Overview

Snapchat is a popular social media platform that allows users to communicate with close friends and family. Users can send messages, photos, videos and tag their location with friends. Snapchat also has a “Stories” feature where users can create longer narratives using photos and videos for their friends to see. And of course, Snapchat has tons of filters and lenses allowing users to express themselves creatively.

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Like TikTok it’s really popular with kids and many parents find it confusing. I will admit that before I worked there, I couldn’t really figure out how it worked either. Lucky for us all I got to learn on the job!

The Basics Of How To Use Snapchat

1. Create an Account: Download it, launch it and create an account with your email address and a password.

2. Add Friends: To start messaging with your friends and family, add them as contacts by searching for their name or username.There’s an icon on the upper right (a silhouette with a plus sign). Go there to search for people you know.

3. Explore Lenses: Get creative by playing around with Snapchat's lenses! Lenses are those circles to the right of the camera button.

4. Watch Content: In the bottom navigation there are two sections for content. Discover which is directly to the right and Spotlight which is far right. Discover is where you can view your friends stories and watch Shows. Spotlight tends to have shorter content (more like TikTok)

Other Things Parents Should Know About

1. Snapchat opens to the camera not to a feed of content. This disorients everyone the first time! From the bottom navigation: content you can watch is to the right; messaging to the left. The Map is the far left.

   

2. Snapchat has the SnapMap which allows users to see where and what their friends are doing.

3. Snapchat has its own AI chatbot.

4. Snapchat has a premium (paid) version.

5. Snapchat has a secret camera roll area with a separate password called My Eyes Only.

6. Snapchat does NOT have a ton of parental controls and settings.

My $0.02

Allowing Snapchat is a big decision for parents to make. Before you say yes, you REALLY have to make sure you understand it.

• Its really great for creativity and connectedness. My kids (who are tweens and don’t have phones yet) and I often sit together and play with the filters.

But, there are some real negatives to consider too:

• Ephemerality can tempt kids to do or say things they wouldn’t want their parents to see. Everything from sexting to cyberbullying. YUP.

• SnapMap can make kids feel left out. Picture it, your kid is home on a Friday night. They open the map and see “everyone” together somewhere. Its one thing to hear about a party on Monday its another to realize it in real time.

• My Eyes Only means kids can store photos they don’t want on their phones camera roll. You can imagine what might go in there.

• Like all social media apps, it can expose your kid to creepy strangers on the internet. And worse- criminals. We’ve all seen the headlines.

• The parental controls are NOT comprehensive. While there are ways to get a handle on Snapchat they require some extra work and its a bit of a patchwork solution.

What Parents Can Do

• Decide if you’ll allow your kid to use Snapchat. Do the benefits outweigh the risks?

• If you do allow Snapchat for your kid, get on there already!

• Set up the O/S controls on your kid’s device, set up Snapchat’s family pairing and set up the Snapchat specific controls.

• Make sure you and your kid understand SnapMap. Consider removing all location settings.

• If you do allow Snapchat, find ways to interact with your kid. It’s actually really important that your kids know you understand how Snap works. Sending Snaps with filters is a fun way to start.

• Whether you allow them on or not, talk with your kids about Snapchat. Make sure they understand that strangers are a red flag and that nothing ever truly disappears entirely from the digiverse.

Additional Resources

• A written guide for parents from Common Sense Media here

• A video on setting Snapchat parental controls here

• This post only scratches the surface, I will go more in depth next week AND—

• If you’re in the Pelham, NY area you can join me IRL THIS Saturday, April 27th for a live workshop on Snapchat. Please note this is an in person only event and space is limited. Register here.

  

  Interested in bringing this live workshop to your area? Fill out this form and let me know!