Snapchat followed suit
Sometimes earlier similar parental control features were launched by TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, etc. as well on their respective platforms. Snapchat hopes to exert a similar way of parental control as parents engage in the real world with their children. An interesting read: Now you can undelete WhatsApp Chats, Feature to Be Out Soon
The process
Guardians or parents have to install the app on their devices and be friends with their children on the platform. An invitation link will have to be sent to the kids to join the Family Center. As and when they accept it, parents will be able to monitor some of their children’s activities on the platform.
Features
For instance, parents would have information on people on their teens’ friends list and who they have been chatting with over the past seven days. They also have the authority to report any suspicious accounts or abuse on their kids’ friends list to the Trust & Safety team. It is to be noted that this feature is available for parents whose children are between the age group of 13 years and 18 years as the app is meant for users from 13 years of age. Parents can access the controls from the user ‘Profile Settings’ of the app or by searching for ‘family center’ or similar terms from the ‘Search’ option. Watch this YouTube video for more information:
Privacy policy
Snapchat cares as much for its users’ privacy as it does for their safety. Thus, the Family Center feature is within its limit to not allow parents access to the messages between their kids and others. Teens however can know what their parents are seeing through the Family Center.
Upcoming features
Snapchat is on its way to adding more attributes to Family Center within the next few months. A new content controls feature is on the list along with the users’ ability to inform their parents through the Family Center when they report somebody. This feature was introduced to deal with mounting pressure on social networks for better protection of minors from harm. We would love to hear your opinion on this. Hit us up in the comments section below.
