Over the years Snapchat has become a massive sensation among millions of users: I use it, you use it, everybody uses it. Given the accessibility, and reliability of the platform, it can be hard to communicate with friends using something other than Snapchat, so many people feel like they need to have it to stay connected. While Snapchat has its perks like staying connected and spreading news, it also has many downsides and I believe the negative impacts the platform has are more significant. As a society, we need to learn more about how much of an impact Snapchat and every other social media platform has on the young generations. 

Snapchat filters often enhance facial features, which give teens an unrealistic standard that they believe they need to live up to, otherwise, they don’t feel good enough. This negatively impacts many teens today and has a significant effect on teen’s mental health.  

Many teens today suffer from a severe addiction to their phones/social media. Snapchat has a way of constantly keeping you engaged and wanting more, using things like notifications when someone is typing or if they sent a snap, the desire to keep a snap streak going, checking snap maps to see what your friends are up to, etc. This constant need to check Snapchat has a huge negative impact on teens’ lives, sleep schedules, social lives, and education. 

There are also many privacy concerns regarding Snapchat users, with location sharing being a feature on the platform. While it can be fun to see where your friends are and what they are up to, sharing your location online also gives access to potential dangers and predators. Although there are ways to set up your location sharing so it only shares it with your friends, many young people don’t understand the dangers of sharing it and are unintentionally sharing their location with strangers. This is a big privacy concern, potentially leading to bigger physical safety issues. 

Snapchat gives you the ability to stay in touch with friends and family whether they are across town or the world. Unlike traditional messaging platforms, Snapchat has a unique way of communicating with face-to-face connections. Snapchat features give teens a lively way of communicating, unlike any other platform. Staying connected with friends and family is important and something we can be thankful to Snapchat for providing us with, however, the negative aspects that Snapchat has like privacy concerns, addictions, and unrealistic beauty standards are far more serious because they harm teens safety and wellbeing. Therefore, I believe the risks that come along with Snapchat are more important than the positive aspects. 

So do we need to get rid of Snapchat as a whole? That would be best for everyone, but that is an unreasonable solution. Even I would be upset if Snapchat was completely deleted, so we must make changes rather than completely remove the platform.  Things like stricter privacy settings, screen times, and more restrictive age requirements can help keep teens safe and balance their time with other activities. This way teens can stay connected while still staying safe and spending less time on the platform.

Overall, Snapchat has some positive features along with many negative impacts like safety concerns and teen’s mental health. I believe that Snapchat should take responsibility for making their platform safer for young teens.