Snapchat.

Kids love it. Parents are baffled by it.

There’s a lot to learn about this fascinating and sometimes-infuriating app, the top social media platform for teens today. But let’s start with a look at one of its most seductive features: the Snapstreak.

At age 28, Family Zone cyber expert Jordan Foster of ySafe is young enough to ‘get’ Snapchat. But as a child and adolescent psychologist, she is also a trained observer of the tricks the platform’s developers use to reel kids in - and keep them captive.

Foster is a regular speaker at schools across Australia. She finds kids are gobsmacked  to learn that the social media platforms they love best - like Snapchat - are the ones that most successfully exploit their vulnerabilities.

Of course, Snapchat is about more than just snapstreaks.

The top social media platform for teens today, this photo-, video- and text-sharing app allows users to send time-limited images, or sequences of such images, called “stories,” to give a raw, backstage glimpse into a user’s private life.

Kids use Snapchat to send photos or videos that can only be accessed for only a few seconds until they self destruct. (The images that is - not the kids!) Snapchat stories last for 24 hours.

Snapchat's photo filters are a major attraction for child and teen users.

Kids can also private-message and make phone calls on Snapchat. But once a message has been opened, it is automatically deleted. This feature makes it impossible for parents to supervise discussions.

Snapchat is also an increasingly popular platform for “branded content” - which is a fancy way of saying “advertising” - for everything from fast food to film releases. It is also the world’s most popular app for sexting.

The age restriction is 13+, but there is no verification process when signing up.

Cyber experts like Jordan Foster agree that Snapchat is inappropriate for children and younger teens - but, as a parent, how do you keep your kids from getting snapped up? Family Zone allows parents to block entire categories of content (“social media,” e.g.) or a specific app like Snapchat. Curious about how it works? Start your no-obligation free trial today.