Keeping your kids safe on the Internet is no easy task, especially with apps and sites like Snapchat and Ask.fm that seem to encourage dangerous behavior, especially when it comes to teens online. The newest app on your “need to know about” list? Snap Save, an iPhone app that lets users save Snapchats without letting the Snapchat sender know.
Here’s the deal. Snapchat has become popular (and made it to the top of our you-know-what list) because it allows for real-time picture chatting and uses time-sensitive technology so that users can choose how long they want a Snapchat to last before it self-destructs. And to our way of thinking, that’s a devious way to encourage teen sexting and even bullying, huge problems with kids today.
Add Snap Save to the mix, and things get even worse. Once you download the app and log into your Snapchat account, you’ll see a list of the snaps you’ve previously received. You can’t reopen those, but any new snaps will be stored in Snap Save so you can view them whenever you want. And what’s worse? Users won’t be notified like they are if someone takes a screenshot of a snap shared via SnapChat, so you’d have no idea if your supposedly time-sensitive snap actually destructs or is stored forever on another digital device.
Super neat, isn’t it? When we hear of apps like this, we just want to ask the creators what the heck they’re thinking. How is this in any way a good idea? And in the case of Snap Save, the creators don’t only think they’re on to something—they’re also planning to make a tidy profit, given the app’s $2.99 price tag.
The sad truth is that apps and sites like Snap Save, Snapchat and Ask.fm aren’t going to go away—in fact, they’ll probably only multiply. And that’s why educating your kids about safe online behavior is so, so important. We can’t build a wall around our children and keep them from using digital devices and the Internet—so the next best thing is keeping a reasonable eye on what they’re doing and teaching them the power and responsibility that comes with being active online.
There’s speculation as to whether the creators of SnapChat will go after Snap Save, so we’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, what are your thoughts about apps like these? And how do you talk to your kids about online safety?
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
