Snapchat is now following suit after what Instagram had started implementing last year. The platform is introducing new restrictions to limit adults from sending messages to users who are under 18, though it’s unclear as to why such consideration wasn’t available from the start.
Limited
As reported by fellow blog site Axios, Snapchat is changing its ‘Quick Add’ friend suggestion process to disallow people from adding users who the app detects are under 18 years old “unless there are a certain number of friends in common between the two users”. Though that won’t fully stop these kinds of connections, it does add an extra barrier to the process, reducing harm and the exposure of minors to potentially harmful interactions.
The move is both logical and important, especially when you consider how it’ll help improve the security of younger audiences within the app, where the impact of such could be far more significant on Snap, which, ironically, is used predominantly by youngsters.
True enough, Snapchat reported last year that around 20% of its user base was aged under 18, with the majority of its audience belonging within the 13 – 28-year-old age bracket. This would likely conclude that interaction between these age groups is likely a significant element of the whole Snap experience. Implementing restrictions, while they would offer greater protection for minors, affecting such a major element will, in some ways, result in big impacts.
Which makes this a particularly significant commitment from Snap – although Snapchat won’t necessarily ‘Stop’ older users from connecting or speaking with younger ones, it will make it a tad more difficult to do so, especially through initial recommendations, using the Quick Add feature.
It’s equally worth noting that Snapchat has already faced several issues on this front, with the app’s ephemeral focus providing a fertile hunting ground for predators, automatically earring evidence trails within the app. With that being said, it’s evident that Snap still has a way to go when it comes to security and protection, but at least it’s taking the important steps to ensure that vulnerable users are kept safe.
The Wrap
As you can see, it’s not a huge change; some might even consider it as not being a change at all. Nevertheless, it stands as a marker of Snapchat’s commitment to upholding user safety and in finding new ways to ensure that youngsters are not as exposed to potential harm while using the app.
Especially now where both AR and VR are significantly growing, taking into account Snap’s field expertise, the likelihood of these technologies being used to forward shady agendas and behaviors also increase, making initiatives such as these doubly important to ensure that while the platform continues to go forward, it does so but not at the expense of its audience.
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