Snapchat: The Photo App That Covers Your Tracks

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Experience a totally new way to share today. Snap a photo or a video, add a caption, and send it to a friend (or maybe a few). They'll view it, laugh, and then the snap disappears from the screen - unless they take a screenshot! If you want to share a Snap with all of your friends, add it to your Snapchat Story, a living narrative where each Snap lives for 24 hours until it disappears, making room for the new." - Snapchat

But what is this I hear that the app made famous because its inventor refused a billion dollar deal from Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is now in the Philippine news for potential threats to people especially to the youth mainly because of its "disappearing" content.

The sent photographs and videos on the Snapchat app are known as "Snaps". Users can set a time limit for how long recipients can view their Snaps (as of December 2013, the range is from 1 to 10 seconds) and then after which they will be hidden or disappear from the recipient's device. It practically encourages teens to engage in behavior that they may regret later.

Just like its logo, Snapchat messages are like ghosts - Now you see it, now you don't!

This makes it a possible tool for "bad" elements of society to use against other people since many will believe that traces of their message (whether with photo or video) will be "erased" only after a few seconds.

Unless you are secret agents like those from Mission Impossible where previous communications quickly burst into flames or explode, it's no big deal. But for the ordinary people who value and grow a bit of sentimentality to memories, I really do not understand why an app like this was created.

Is there really danger in using the said app? You be the judge by trying it out yourself. I guess the huge number of individuals who downloaded the app, and the offer from the Facebook giant, are enough reasons to at least take a look and review the app.

Who knows, there might be a lot more positive aspects than the fearful issues that the news are now airing.