As someone who first downloaded SnapChat in fifth grade, I have been an avid user for almost a decade. The app has changed a lot since I first started using it, however, this year, SnapChat’s features have changed so much and in an arguably alarming way. SnapChat Plus, a premium version of SnapChat that users can purchase for $3.99 a month, begs the question, has SnapChat gone too far this time?
We all loved SnapChat because of its notifications when someone screenshots our story or a chat or the half swipe feature, which allowed us to look at a message without actually opening it. Sure, there was not much privacy when it came to being a SnapChat user– people could see your location and when you were active if you were not on Ghost Mode– however, the new SnapChat plus invades a user’s privacy to the utmost extreme.
The features that come with SnapChat Plus can cause users to develop obsessive tendencies which borderline stalking. You can now see your place on another person’s Best Friend List, every location your friends have been at throughout the day, if a person half swipes on your conversation, or if a person views your story multiple times. I believe that the saying ignorance is bliss really fits the way we should think about SnapChat Plus. I can only imagine how detrimental SnapChat Plus would be to my self esteem if I could see where I was located on other’s Best Friends Lists. I would definitely catch myself stalking my profile views way too often. Why do we need to know all of this information regarding our account activity? Will this information only lead us to be hungry for more?