Snapchat came out with a new feature called SnapMap. This feature has started to raise a lot of concerns for users. Users and their parents are extremely worried about safety and bullying. Due to the fact that SnapMap tracks every friend’s locations in real time, this raises a lot of concern.
One big concern with this SnapMap is that so many users are friends with random people on their Snapchat. Just like Facebook, many users accept people they aren’t close with on this social media network. This increases safety risks as people you aren’t that close with will know exactly where you are located at every second.
Upon launching this new map feature, Snapchat announced, “We’ve built a whole new way to explore the world! See what’s happening, find your friends, and get inspired to go on an adventure!” (TheGuardian). Snapchat is trying to make this feature sound positive and exciting when it does the exact opposite.
Parents definitely need to talk to their kids about the safety concerns and explain they should either hide their location or start deleting some of their friends they aren’t close with.
Safety and security is getting harder and harder to remain strong as social media networks are evolving. Twitter lets people add their locations to their tweets and Facebook lets users share their locations to their posts. People definitely need to be aware of these risks and really take time to pause and think if sharing their location is safe.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/23/snapchat-maps-privacy-safety-concerns
I too, was initially concerned about the implementation of the new Snapmaps on SnapChat. I remember when it first came out that I was up in Massachusetts visiting friends. We were at lunch and were waiting for one other person. He had his snapmaps activated, so we could see where he was every few minutes, as long as it kept updating. The accuracy was incredible. We watched and saw the route that he took to get to this place and could even see which side of the highway he was on. It was a playful situation sure, but it certainly shows the progress we have made in GPS tracking. Having real-time info on people can certainly be good and bad. However, while it certainly is creepy that your friends can pinpoint almost your exact location, there isn’t much cause for concern. Users have the option not only to go entirely on ghost mode, meaning that nobody can see your location, but you do also have the ability to choose which friends can see your location. So, if parents are really that concerned, they can opt to have their children either switch into one of those modes or just only add people that they know really well.
Source:
https://thenextweb.com/apps/2017/07/06/snapchats-snap-maps-feature-probably-isnt-going-to-get-you-murdered/
I completely agree with this post. When the snapchat feature came out I was very concerned for my safety. I noticed that I was able to see all of my friends locations without any of their permission! The whole time I was thinking “What if one of these guys wanted to come and kill me because they did not like one of my posts?” I am probably being a bit overdramatic, but it shows my concern. Now as time passed on the feature is not as bad as it may seem. If you are uncomfortable with sharing your location with the rest of your friends then you can turn on ghost mode. The mode allows for nobody to see your location. You can also choose to share your location with only certain individuals. For example, I chose to only share my location with only people that I know personally and trust. The cool thing about this feautre is you can view stories in certain areas on the map in real time which allows for people to explore. That was snapchat main goal was for people to go on adventures and hang out with their friends. Technology continues to try and innovate ways to make humans interact with each other. I think with some of the safety features snapchat has implemented it had made it a fun thing to use. It can also be usual for tragedies as if somebody gets into some type of trouble. With the safety features, snap chat has included along with the map mode it is generally a safe and fun thing to use.
https://www.howtogeek.com/316185/snapchat’s-new-map-feature-explained-and-how-to-disable-it/
Snapchat’s addition of “Snapmap” has developed controversy over privacy and safety, and while I do agree that minors need to be informed about the implications and possible dangers of sharing their location, this new features has a largely impacted modern day journalism. Social media already revolutionized the way our society receives and shares news, as it allowed everyone to become a “journalist” essentially. With that in mind, Snapmap allows users the ability to do more than just see where their friends are. They can also see stories that have been posted and live news coverage at specific locations. I feel as though this is a positive advancement that leads to greater connectivity, and has been especially useful in recent events such as the Las Vegas Massacre.
https://www.elitedaily.com/p/las-vegas-shooting-snap-map-story-shows-the-horrifying-scene-2755039
I think this is just a large testament to our generation and the demographic that are using snap chat today. Many social media users enjoy the idea of constantly knowing the whereabouts of their friends and people in their lives. Location features allows for people to share where they are at all times, and this new snap chat feature just creates an easier way to do so. There is much concern about how much information this gives to people. Its hard to see the overwhelming benefits with this new feature, when the cons are so significant. Kids as young as 13 are able to use snap chat according to the article linked below, and that raises a lot of concern. Many active social media users are entertaining the trend of allowing strangers to be friends with them on social media, and this new location feature creates a terrifying amount of openness and knowledge that should not be shared. Privacy is something that is so important and there are many people that will take advantage of this lack of, and it’s a very scary thing.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/12/snapchats-snap-map-stokes-privacy-fears.html
When I first heard about the Snap Maps, I was slightly terrified. I chose to go Ghost Mode, which is when your location is not shared to anyone, but still found myself being curious and checking up on where everyone else was. Eventually I went through my friends list, cleared out people I didn’t know as well as the rest (because my SnapChat is private, I knew everyone on my list. Some people I just was not that close to. These were the people I deleted) and put myself on the map. Snap Maps has come in handy with my friend group many times. Sometimes if we are out on the weekend, we use Snap Maps to find each other’s locations and meet up. Or we will use it to check up on each other and make sure we’re in a safe location.
Snap Maps definitely has some major drawbacks though. Younger children, who may not understand the importance of keeping your location from strangers, and probably just have their Snapchat profiles on public, are at risk for safety issues. I agree with your segment about how parents need to have a talk, but I also think we as young adults have a job to do as well. I know when I was younger I wouldn’t listen to my parents when they said “don’t talk to strangers on the internet” (low and behold I now spend most of my time talking to strangers on the internet via Social media), but had someone in high school or college that I thought was “cool” or “looked up to” told me not to do so, I probably would’ve listened because I looked up to them.
This is an issue I’ve been seeing with a lot of the technological advances coming around recently. They make things more efficient overall and seemingly “better”, however they raise some security and privacy concerns. I’m interested in seeing how ten years from now we have advanced from this. Maybe we’ll look back and Snap Maps wont seem scary in the slightest compared to what we will be dealing with in the future!
https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/article/about-snap-map2
While I do agree that parents need to have a conversation with younger children about the privacy settings of this new snapchat feature, I do not think that it as big of an issue as the media has portrayed it to be. I find snapchat to be a much more intimate form of social media in comparison to Facebook or twitter. I personally have around 1500 Facebook friends, but only around 200 snapchat contacts. I am much more willing to accept someone I did not know as well on Facebook, especially if they have a high number of mutual friends. On snapchat, mutual friends are not advertised, and users can only add you if they have your cell phone number, they know your exact snapchat user name, a snap code that only you and friends of yours have, or by turning your settings on to allow people nearby to add you as a friend. The way you can become friends with someone is limited on Snapchat, and much less public than Facebook where you can be tagged in friends photos. If you have a private snapchat account, your friends cannot send your story to others that you are not friends with, and you will be notified if anyone screenshots your story. While snap map does leave your location open to your friends, this list of friends can be very easily controlled. You also have the option of going on to “ghost mode” in which your location is not represented on the snap map, or even customizing a list of your friends that you choose to allow to see your location, if you do not use ghost mode. https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/how-to-add-someone-on-snapchat/
I personally think that this new feature on Snapchat has many positives. The new Snap Map doesn’t just allow you to see what your friends are up to, it also lets you watch stories of things going on around the country or even the world. That can be very beneficial when breaking news is occurring or when people want to see real life experiences of what is happening. It could have been very beneficial during the recent hurricanes, with the tragic Vegas shooting, and now with the fires in California.
I also can understand the dangers and all of the cons that come along with sharing your location with your Snapchat friends, I myself have some Snapchat friends who I know very little about or have even just met once or twice. I can also see it being a major concern for parents, but publicizing your location on in posts should be something that parents talk to their kids about when they educate them on the internet. Snapchat does allows you go on “Ghost Mode” or chose who can see your location and who can not. I believe that by doing that you can still get the full benefits from the app and do it safely.
http://www.theloquitur.com/snapchats-newest-feature-the-snap-map/