Snapchat users warned to keep it clean

By Jemimah Clegg

Published on City Journal, 15 October 2014

Young people are ditching Facebook for Snapchat, a photo-sharing app best known for its explicit content. The consequences could be embarrassing, at best. 

The day Liz Vaxalis was accidently “snapped” an explicit photo by a workmate was the day she started being more cautious with her social media usage.

The 23-year-old Melbourne nurse said she used Snapchat all the time before that photo landed on her phone. Now she has a totally different attitude.

“I’m a lot more careful with using technology in general. I never send anything inappropriate through messages. I deleted Snapchat, I deleted WhatsApp, Facebook. When I log in, I also log out when I finish on my phone,” Ms Vaxalis said.

Her boyfriend also received the explicit image, so Ms Vaxalis’s workmate contacted Snapchat to find out what was going on.

Snapchat’s response: Ms Vaxalis’s phone may have been hacked.

Snapchat has developed a reputation as a “sexting” app, as photos sent on it are automatically deleted after a short time.

An Australian survey found 25 per cent of users admitted to “snapping” sexual content.

 

A Business Insider Intelligence study found most users are under 25, and academics have suggested young adults are leaving Facebook in favour of Snapchat.

Snapchat’s website asks users to: “Keep it legal. Don’t use Snapchat for any illegal shenanigans and if you’re under 18 or are snapping with someone who might be: keep your clothes on!” 

The Victorian Parliament introduced new “sexting” laws in August this year, which allowed minors who consensually shared provocative photos to avoid child sex offences.

However, the laws do not protect young adults with under-age partners, even if the sharing was consensual.

Cyber safety educator Leonie Smith said the law is not the only reason young adults should be careful when sending or posting images of themselves.

“It’s about what happens to those photos as they get older,” she told City Journal.

“If they decide they want to be a world-famous scientist or a politician, and there are a hundred photos of them in sexual poses out there somewhere on a device – the problem is that taking a photo on a digital device is not safe,” she said.

Ms Vaxalis agreed.

“You think cause it’s your phone that no-one can access it, but it’s not a Nokia 3310, this is online, in the middle of nowhere – who knows who can access this stuff.”