Cyberbullying has become a serious issue with today’s teens and children. These age groups often spend a significant amount of time online, doing homework and interacting with their friends. Learn about Snapchat Bullying Tactics!
While bullying has previously been limited to in-person encounters, it has now extended to online and other avenues. Snapchat is one of the fastest growing trends among teens, making it the ideal place for bullies to target their victims. According to CNBC, the app handles more than 200 million snaps every day.
How Does Snapchat Work?
Snapchat is an app that is available on both Android and Apple phones. This picture and video text option allow individuals to send a picture or short video to one or several friends. The picture or video that is sent is only available on the recipient’s phone for a short period of time, up to 10 seconds. At this time, the image or video is deleted from the phone and the servers. These facts make the app the perfect opportunity to use new cyberbullying tactics to attack its victims.
No Evidence
The biggest draw to using Snapchat as a cyberbullying technique is the fact that pictures and videos disappear within 10 seconds after being viewed. Bullies don’t want to leave any evidence of what they are doing at the risk of being caught. They feel if the picture or video they send disappears before the bullying victim is able to show it to an adult, they are in the clear. For the most part, this makes this application the perfect venue for cyberbullies. Most teens don’t know how to capture a screenshot of the picture or don’t have the presence of mind to do so in the heat of the moment. This is why it is important for parents to teach their children this technique.
Spreads Much Faster
Many times, bullies like to get as many people involved as possible. Unfortunately, even though victims don’t often have the presence of mind to create a screenshot to get the bully in trouble, those who are doing the cyberbullying typically know how. In these situations, if they get their hands on an embarrassing picture of another student, they may take a quick snapshot on their cell phone and then continue to pass it around.
Attack via Picture and Text
Even though Snapchat is designed to be used with pictures, there are multiple ways bullies can use to attack their victims. Sending embarrassing photos or photos that seem to compare the victim to an animal or another derogatory item can often be an effective way of attacking the other person. However, this isn’t the only way this app can be used to attack. Some individuals create videos that have words on them and send those through the application. These words can often have an even greater impact on the person who is on the receiving end of the attack.
A Popularity Contest
Sometimes individuals who are bullied are somewhat safe from the methods which bullies prefer. However, with Snapchat being such a popular tool that just about every teenager is using, it makes it an ideal way to target individuals. Those who are bullied often want to become more popular, and they may feel they can do so by using this app. They are more likely to either use looser privacy settings or accept more people as friends in an attempt to grow their popularity. Unfortunately, this often makes them an even bigger target than they may have been without adding all these individuals.
What Can You Do?
As a parent, it is important to track what your child is doing online, including through his or her cell phone. When your child is a teenager, it doesn’t mean you have to stop this tracking. In addition to knowing what your child is up to, it is also important to talk about all the dangers of cyberbullying and even sexting. Both these activities are commonly conducted through Snapchat. Keeping the lines of communication open with your child will ensure you know what is going on when it happens. It may also be useful to teach your child how to capture the pictures so he or she can prove any bullying.
The fight against cyberbullying is constantly changing as new pieces of technology become popular among teens. With the introduction of Snapchat just two years ago, it has become a popular method for teens to keep track of each other. In addition to keeping in touch, though, many teens are using this tool to bully other individuals with a reduced risk of getting caught. However, when this application is used responsibly, it can be a fun experience for teens instead of a painful one.
Bullying happens everywhere! But with Snapchat bullying, the danger is widespread and can have a long-lasting effect on the victims as the chance of capturing a demeaning offensive photo of someone is available, the bullying can, then, stay with the victim for years. Learn about Snapchat bullying tactics and teach others how to escape Snapchat bullying today.