Social media has definitely caused a lot of headaches for parents over the years that it has come to dominate the lives of youth. Probably the chief perpetrator of these headaches has been Snapchat. This is because of the unique approach which the Snapchat app takes; it is the only social media application which automatically deletes the messages which are sent between users. This approach causes so many problems for parents who want to monitor Snapchat.
Other applications make it much easier to track message which are exchanged because it is always possible to go back and view them. However, Snapchat removes this approach as an option. This means that as a parent if you want to monitor your child’s Snapchat you need to do so in real time. This makes a lot of parents wonder how to monitor Snapchat; how does someone go about monitoring this type of social media?
Here are a number of different ways to help parents learn how to monitor Snapchat.
How do Monitoring Apps Work?
For monitoring apps to work you need to download the application on to both your own phone and the phone you wish to monitor. The app downloaded onto your child’s phone supports the monitoring of the phone and the enforcement of the designated parental controls.
Once you have downloaded the application onto the child’s phone you are able to set parental guidelines based on a number of different options which you can choose. You are then able to use a password to lock these settings in place.
These guidelines can be varying levels of restrictive. They provide many options for not just monitoring and restricting one application but on all applications on the phone and the normal operations as well.
How to Know What is Appropriate
Everyone is different, this is one of the basic rules of life. Therefore, it is impossible to make blanket statements or rules about what is acceptable because everyone is different and everyone’s relationship between parent and child is unique. However, it is important to establish guidelines and agree with your child on what is appropriate to make sure they are safe.
Many factors go into deciding what restrictions are appropriate, but it is very important to talk to your child about restrictions options so that they can be agreed on.
What Does Monitoring Snapchat Look Like
Apps will provide you with a multitude of different options, and different apps will provide different options. So, really there are countless answers on how to monitor snapchat.
To name a couple you can restrict different functions of Snapchat, including accepting or sending invites to friends and what types of posts can be made. You can also monitor pictures and videos that are both sent and received.
Other options include downloading apps which use machine learning to identify harmful messages received and sent and troubling changes in trends of activity. You can also create keywords where you are notified if a word that you have identified as troubling appears.
There are many different options when using an app, so it is important to decide how to monitor Snapchat for you and what is the appropriate way to keep your child safe and you informed.
