Snapchat is launching a new live sharing function that’ll enable users to share their real-time locations with chosen connections via the Snap Map. This new functionality enables users to share their locations with chosen friends, with timestamps at 15 minutes, 1 hour, or 8 hours. Providing them with additional ways to keep tabs on where you are at a given time.
Snapchat ‘Check-In’
Live locations will be displayed in a private chat window with your chosen connection/s, along with a timer at the top of the Snap Map counting down the sharing time. To clarify things, users have always been able to share their locations on the Snap Map since its launch back in 2017, which provided an almost real-time GPS location of where you were most likely at, whereas this new option is more specific and enables more ‘granular’ tracking of a user’s real-time movements.
Sounds good for safety? Yes. Sounds concerning? Somewhat.
Users do have the option to pause location tracking, disabling the sending of prompts and notifications. It would seem that there are at least some forms of privacy considerations built into the function. The function is also switched off by default and users won’t be able to send their real-time locations to all their contacts at once, only to a select few. Sending locations is done one by one on each friend’s profile.
The backbone of the project rode on the main goal of keeping younger users safe. Partnering with It’s On Us, an NGO that advocates stopping campus sexual assault, Snap launched the option in hopes that it helps improve personal security by enabling its users to share their location as they move about with a few chosen and trusted friends.
The initiative itself could be greatly beneficial, especially given that the majority of Snap’s audience belongs to younger generations. However, the push is not without its risks. On the side of personal relationships, ‘Domineering’ partners could force their significant other into sharing their in-app locations, which, if you do let the wrong person track your whereabouts, could lead to certain problems. Snap hopes to avoid this by granting users more control over who can see their activity, but this too has its own share of side effects that could lead to potential misuse.
The Wrap
All in all, it would seem that the potential benefits outweigh the risks. While you can always make use of third-party apps that offer location-tracking services, the main idea was to have something readily available and accessible within Snapchat itself. Besides, integrating such functionality with the Snap Map might yield better results, as coupling the new function with the Snap Map’s array of other features might help effectively track a close connection’s real-time location.
It’s a good concept and for now, only time will tell if it was a good addition or not. At the very least, the added capability to keep tabs on more vulnerable friends and connections does help alleviate certain anxieties every time they go home or travel to places you deem as ‘sketchy’ or ‘remote’.
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