13+
Minimum age
What do you think is the right age for Snapchat?Share your thoughts
Snapchat is an app that lets you send a photo or short video to your friends. The ‘snap’ appears on screen for a matter of seconds before disappearing. There’s also a feature called Snapchat Story that lets you share lots of snaps in a sequence for up to 24 hours.
What do I need to know about Snapchat?
We’ve joined forces with O2 to find out what parents of 8-12 year olds think about Snapchat. We’ve also asked young people what they think. Here’s what they said:
What do children and young people say to look out for:
44% of the children and young people we asked think Snapchat can be risky. The top 3 concerns were:
Why kids like it:
The top 2 reasons why children and young people liked Snapchat were:
Parents say:
"I can't believe how easy it would be for a child to register on here."
We asked parents of 8-12 year olds how easy it would be for an 11 year old child to pretend to be a different age to sign up, and whether any checks were in place.
Parents say:
"This may appear easy to an adult who uses social media regularly, but to a child these aspects may not appear so easy."
We asked parents of 8-12 year olds about reporting unsuitable content, blocking unwanted messages or people, and about moderation on Snapchat.
Read information on blocking.
Parents say:
"You send messages to your friends. The issue is you cannot then prevent them from onward re-sharing to other friends."
We asked parents of 8-12 year olds to find and adjust Snapchat’s settings to keep their personal information private.
Girl
"People ask you for your Snapchat name and ask for dirty pics."
Girl
"You can communicate through photos and you don't have to just text."
Girl
"It lets you communicate with your friends easily and quickly."
Mum
"If your child does use this site, keep a check on what they are posting and make sure it is set for their friends only."
Unknown
"I would say Snapchat is relatively safe if used to communicate between friends. If the user opens up to 'everyone', then strangers can communicate with them. I would not want anyone taking this risk, especially those under 18 ."
Unknown
"It's a great platform if your child wants to look at trusted brands like national geographic or mtv. In fact it could be educational."
x
x
Snapchat
"Snapchat lets you easily talk with friends, view Live Stories from around the world, and explore news in Discover. Life's more fun when you live in the moment! Please note: Snapchatters can always capture or save your messages, such as by taking a screenshot or using a camera."
x
x
13+
Snapchat says
This is taken from Snapchat’s own guidelines and is accurate as of March 2016.
14+
Our panel says
Based on our independent panel surveyed in December 2015.
12+
Children say
Based on 1725 responses from children and young people we asked in December 2015.
13+
Parents say
Based on 2782 votes from parents who have visited this site – you can vote too!
52% of reviewers reported seeing content that might be unsuitable for children aged 8-12 on this site.
Sexual
Violence and hatred
Bullying
Suicide and self-harm
Other
Parents did not report seeing inappropriate content on the app.
Children reported adult and violent content as their main concerns over content on the app.
Unknown
"Because the pictures seemingly disappear, children may be tempted to send pictures that they wouldn't otherwise do."
Unknown
"There could be absolutely any content available on there."
Unknown
"Anything could be sent on this platform and hidden very easily from adults/parents/guardians etc."
Girl
"If you send an inappropriate image, you can never get it back and it can be screenshotted."
Girl
"Anything can be sent and you can be bullied."
Girl
"People send inappropriate images and messages and cyber bullying occurs."
We know it can be awkward but no amount of information beats talking to your children about their experiences online.
There are some things that it’s best not to share with others, can you think what they might be?Other relevant resources:
Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is an app which allows users to communicate with their friends from their Facebook account or phonebook.
Kik
Kik is an instant messaging app which lets you share messages, photos, games and news or organise events.
Meow Chat
Meow Chat allows you to chat with strangers in a public chat room, or as a private conversation.
Tango
Tango is an app which allows you to make voice and video calls and have group chats.See all
You can help us keep this guide up to date. So if your children are using a site, app or game that we haven’t covered yet, let us know and we’ll consider featuring it in our next update.
Sign up to be the first to hear about new social networks, important updates and news to help keep your child safe online.
