Introduction Of Snapchat
Snapchat is enhancing its Family Center with new location-sharing features that notify parents when their teen arrives at or leaves specific locations. Announced on Thursday, the feature offers an improved way for parents to monitor their teens’ whereabouts without actively checking Snap Map or their teen’s profile. The new notification functionality is designed to make it easier for parents to stay updated on their children’s movements, such as arriving at school or leaving an extracurricular activity.
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How the New Location Alerts Work
Previously, It allowed users to share their live location with others. The Family Center’s update expands on this, enabling parents to set alerts for up to three designated locations on the Snap Map. For instance, parents could be notified when their teen leaves home, arrives at school, or returns from an activity. To set this up, parents need to send a request to their teen, who must accept the live location sharing.
This enhancement is part of It’s ongoing efforts to promote safety and communication, especially given the app’s significant youth user base. Snapchat has positioned itself as a social media platform with a focus on user privacy, but it has also taken steps to cater to parents’ needs for insight and security as teens navigate social networks.
Competing with Established Family Tracking Apps
With the addition of these location alerts, It is taking a step closer to services like Life360, a popular family tracking app that offers similar notifications for family members’ comings and goings. Life360 has built a dedicated user base around its real-time location updates and geofencing capabilities. By adding such features directly into It, Snap Inc. can provide an alternative for families already using the app, potentially capturing a portion of Life360’s audience.
“We’re adding travel notifications to Family Center to give parents more peace of mind knowing their teen has arrived at class, left sports practice on time, or even returned home after a night with friends,” Snapchat shared in a recent blog post, highlighting the feature’s role in enhancing family communication.
Increased Transparency: Teens’ Location Sharing and Friend Visibility
Another important addition to the Family Center is the ability for parents to see who their teens are sharing their location with on It. This update aims to increase transparency and safety for teens by encouraging conversations about their social circles. Snapchat also plans to start nudging users who have chosen to share their location with all their friends on the platform, encouraging them to review and update their sharing settings if necessary.
Expanding Family Center: Responding to Parental and Legislative Pressures
Snapchat launched Family Center in 2022 in response to increasing legislative pressure to improve protections for young users on social media. Since then, Snapchat has continuously added new features to the hub to enable parents to monitor and engage with their teens’ social media usage more effectively. Despite this, only around 200,000 parents out of Snapchat’s vast user base reportedly use the Family Center, highlighting the need for Snapchat to promote these tools to parents more actively.
The new Family Center features are set to roll out in the coming weeks. This update underscores Snapchat’s commitment to evolving its platform in response to growing concerns around social media safety for young users while providing more convenience and peace of mind for parents. With 350 million monthly Snap Map users, these enhancements offer Snapchat an opportunity to remain a top choice for families seeking safer ways to stay connected.
