Snapchat has slipped into one of the world’s most popular social media platforms used by teens. Pew Research Center’s 2024 report finds that 55% of American teenagers are active Snapchat users. Users open the app 30-40 times a day and spend an average of 30 minutes engaged with it each day. In the U.S. alone, Snapchat has 90% of 13- to 24-year-olds as users. This makes it a part of the teen culture. This article aims to support parents in better understanding the “teens and Snapchat” phenomenon. We explore what teens use Snapchat for, safe for teens, the dangers that exist and what you can do to protect your child in a changing online environment.
Why teens are drawn to Snapchat
Before looking at its popularity, there’s one thing to clear up: Snapchat is only available to users 13 years and older. Snapchat tends to shut down and remove data from any accounts it determines are owned by a user under 13. And 13 to 17-year-olds also can’t change their birth year to 18 or older after signing up.
Unique appeal:
Snapchat’s appeal is very different from that of other social media apps. It’s not about likes, followers and going viral. Rather, it emphasizes communication with friends, stories, and ephemeral content (messages/photos that disappear after being viewed), making it less curated and contrived than Instagram or TikTok.
Fits teen communication style:
Snapchat not only provides a sense of social connection but also fits teens’ communication style. Offers augmented reality (AR) lenses and fun filters for creative self-expression. Disappearing messages and a casual, laid-back interface reduce the pressure to “perform” online. Teens feel less judged and less “on display” compared to other social media platforms.
Promotes immediate and authentic engagement:
The platform enables private, relaxed conversations with friends. However, it can also create a mild fear of missing out (FOMO) as teens follow friends’ updates in the moment.
How teens use Snapchat: features and activities
If you want to better understand your teenager’s Snapchat use, it’s important to first understand Snapchat itself. Snapchat is not just a photo-sharing app. It’s a complex platform with many features that have distinct social functions. These features have impacts on teens’ sharing, communication and consumption.
These are the most commonly used features:
- Snaps: Photos or videos that are sent directly to friends and only available for 1-10 seconds after they are viewed.
- Stories: 24-hour updates of photos and video that can be shared with a friend list or group.
- Chat: Text and voice messages that disappear after being read, but can be saved.
- Spotlight: A public feed of short-form videos similar to TikTok, where everyone’s videos can be seen.
- Snap Map: Location sharing that displays your friends’ locations on a map.
- Lenses and Filters: Augmented reality (AR) effects for photos and video, with more than 350 million users interacting with them every day.
- My AI: An integrated chatbot powered by ChatGPT, which can answer questions via the chat box.
- Streaks: A counter of how many days in a row you and a friend have snapped.
Adolescents will use multiple features at once. Users might watch a friend’s Story, send a snap of themselves, respond to a chat and use Snap Map to track the location of a group of friends. It’s this complex use that makes the app so popular.
Understanding Snapchat’s unique communication norms
Snapchat has its own culture and “rules” of communication. Understanding these norms helps parents talk more effectively with their teens about their Snapchat use.
- Images before words: Teens use photos of themselves and brief video clips, instead of text, to respond. It’s common to send a selfie as a greeting. It’s more real and personable than text.
- Internet slang and acronyms: “SB” (snap back), “SS” (screenshot), “WYD” (what are you doing), “NGL” (not gonna lie) and “ISTG” (I swear to God) are frequently used. These are easily understood by teens, but are more confusing to parents.
- Who can see what: A Story is visible to all friends or followers. A Private Snap is only shared with one person. Teens control what they share publicly or keep private.
- Engagement and social pressure: Features like streaks (consecutive days of exchanging snaps) and view counts encourage frequent interaction. Teens may feel pressure to respond quickly or maintain streaks, which can influence their communication habits and create subtle social stress.
Pros of using Snapchat for teens
It’s wrong to view Snapchat only as a threat. It can actually have positive effects on adolescents’ social development. Understanding these positives can help parents have more constructive discussions with their children.
- Conversations with friends: Snapchat is designed for communicating with your close friends, rather than for public broadcasting. This allows for more authenticity and helps maintain their relationships for teens with busy schedules, moving schools, or with social anxiety.
- Creative self-expression: Augmented reality lenses, video and story features support creative expression. These help build digital media skills in the long term.
- Low-stakes sharing: Since snaps are ephemeral and don’t stay online, there is less pressure for teens to present well-cultivated content. This can help decrease image pressure that leads to stress on other social media platforms.
Is Snapchat safe for teens?
Snapchat is indeed a safer product now than it once was, but it’s still not without substantial risks like teen Snapchat leaks and nudes. Parents need to know both sides so they can make wise and balanced choices.
Snapchat has made considerable efforts to enhance safety for teens. Accounts for under-15s have default privacy settings. There are filters to block inappropriate content in Discover and Spotlight.
There are also options to limit who can connect with teens, a Family Center to allow parents to monitor their teen’s account, and the ability for parents to block their teen’s ability to use My AI. Snapchat’s Community Guidelines ban bullying, harassment and graphic or explicit content. These measures are good, but not bulletproof.
Dangers of Snapchat for youth
Parents should be aware of dangers on Snapchat:
- Online predators and scams: Data supplied to the NSPCC shows Snapchat is the preferred method of online grooming. Almost half of reported social media grooming takes place on Snapchat.
- Sexting and sharing photos: The Cyberbullying Research Center reported that 22% of the young people surveyed had sent nude or semi-nude photos of themselves on Snapchat. The temporary nature of disappearing messages is misleading. Snapchat content can be easily captured and shared as a screenshot or recorded.
- Exposure to harmful content: In 2024, the New Mexico Department of Justice conducted an undercover investigation and found searches for harmful keywords on Snapchat accounts with illegal content. Moderation is better but not foolproof.
- Cyberbullying: You can’t save Snapchat messages easily. This makes it more difficult to report to the platform and school.
- Snap Map location risks: If not correctly set up, Snap Map can share a teen’s live location with all their friends or even the public. This could cause physical harm, especially for young teens.
- Anxiety and excessive screen time: Social media algorithms and features always encourage users to maintain high engagement, which can lead to anxiety, FOMO, or even phone addiction.
How to keep your teen safe on Snapchat: a parental guide
Awareness is the foundation and regular action is what provides protection. These tips are actionable, concrete and will work with your teen, not against them.
Set up Family Center
- Launch Snapchat > tap the profile icon > tap the gear icon, then go to “Family Center”.
- Invite your teen’s Snapchat account to connect.
- Once connected, parents can view their friend list, restrict sensitive content, and help report concerning accounts.
Family Center doesn’t display messages, helping to protect your teen’s privacy while allowing you to keep an eye on important updates.
Review privacy settings together
- Change “Who can contact me” to “My Friends”. This prevents people your teen doesn’t know from sending snaps and messages.
- Turn on Ghost Mode in Snap Map, so the location is not visible to anyone, including friends.
- Turn off “Quick Add”, so the app will not share your teen’s account with people they don’t know.
Bust the disappearing-message myth
Make sure your teen knows messages are not truly deleted. A screenshot, screen recorder or app can save all messages. Emphasize that anything that goes online can stay online forever. Private can be public in the blink of an eye.
Set boundaries and limits
Set limits on how long they can use Snapchat each day with Screen Time (on iOS) or Digital Wellbeing (on Android). Clear boundaries like no devices during study, dinner, and for two hours before bedtime. By framing it as a family rule rather than a personal restriction, it’s easier for teens to accept.
Keep the conversation ongoing
Ask questions in a non-judgmental way. Find out who their friends on the app are, and what they enjoy about it, and what makes them feel unsafe. One rule is unbreakable: if anything makes them feel unsafe, they tell you right away. It’s never a punishment to tell the truth.
Final thoughts
Social media like Snapchat have reinforced the younger generation’s tendency to forge relationships and explore identity through instant, visual communication. Parents’ aim is not to cut off access to Snapchat, but to make sure teens feel confident to share problems. Enable Family Center, discuss safe practices and make online safety an ongoing conversation. By not policing, but supporting, teens are more likely to become savvy and safe online.
