Snapchat is one of the most popular digital messaging apps that exist in the world. Most teens use this app as a way to communicate and connect with peers, friends and family.       

While this app has many benefits, I believe that many problems would be solved if teens decided to delete snapchat as they aged out of high school. Deleting snapchat will help teens to be more in tune with real world communication. 

According to Forbes Magazine, 60 percent of teens say they use snapchat daily. While this app benefits students by allowing them to connect through another platform, the structure of snapchat is different from other apps. 

Being active on this app can add another pull to be on your phone all the time. I have noticed this behavior in myself. I want to check and see if one of my friends has snapped me back, or see who has viewed my latest story. This causes me to pick up my phone more often than I should. 

I find that snapchat is set up where it invades a person’s privacy. Snapchat users can also track their friends location on the ‘snap map’, see when someone has opened a chat or a snap, view peoples stories, see when someone was last active and even half swipe friends chats. 

Half swiping friends chats is where the receiver of the snap/chat can half swipe on the message. This allows them to view the message without letting the sender know the chat has been read. 

In the real world, if someone asked me a question or said something to me, am I just going to ignore them and pretend like I did not hear them? This behavior would essentially be what a half swipe is, not on snapchat and that’s very disrespectful and impolite. 

All of these actions on snapchat create a way for peers to view their friends closely. These behaviors are immature and as teens move through their life they need to develop communication skills that are grown up. 

Not everything about this app is completely invasive and awful, and there are many perks to being active on this app. For instance, instead of awkwardly asking your classmate for their number, you can add them on snap. If you want to post something for your classmates to see, then you can post it on your story. 

While snapchat offers unique ways of communication between users, there are still ulterior ways teens can be in touch with peers, not on snapchat. 

For example, instead of snapping a friend back and forth for hours, simply call that friend and catch up. This would be an example of how adults communicate with each other. 

Communicating through snapchat is problematic, invasive and immature. As high school students grow up and ease their way into the world of adulting they need to delete the app in order for them to learn how to effectively communicate like an adult in the world.