Unfortunately, it has become necessary in our post-modern world where freedom of speech and unrestricted Internet has forced parents into the situation where they need to monitor their children’s social media profiles, social messaging and text messaging chats, as well as the websites, chat rooms, and discussion forums that they visit on a regular basis.
Our constitutional right to the freedom of expression often translates into cyber bullying or the abuse of the right to be respected. Additionally, the right to a free and open Internet equates to the free availability of child pornography, video clips of unspeakable horrors, prowling sexual predators masquerading as friends in online spaces such as chat rooms and open online games, and finally, suicide games such as Blue Whale, etc.
What is Snapchat?
Before we look at ways to monitor our children’s social media posts, including their Snapchat posts, let’s look at what Snapchat is.
In essence, it is a photo-sharing app like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to a certain extent, although Facebook is so much more than a photo-sharing app. Snapchat’s biggest drawcard, or the most significant difference between Snapchat and Instagram, for instance, is that the photo lasts for a maximum of 10 seconds before it is deleted. Snapchat photos are also only sent directly to a friend; they are not for public consumption.
Viewing Snapchat photos post factum
The general impression given is that once a Snapchat photo has been deleted, it is gone for ever. Ergo, it cannot be recovered. However, this is not entirely true. Most modern smartphones have the options of taking a screenshot of what is currently on a phone screen and posting it on permanent social media photo sites such as Facebook. Additionally, forensic experts are able to, utilising special software, reconstruct files that have been deleted.
Under certain circumstances, as described above, it is not only appropriate but necessary to view third-party snapchats, especially if they are inappropriate and have been sent to our teens. Thus, it’s important to know how to see other peoples snapchats.
The good news is that there is a nifty spy app called mSpy, that can be installed on a mobile phone. This app monitors all communication that takes place on the phone. Ergo, it tracks phone calls, text messages, social media posts, multimedia messages, conversations on social messaging apps such as WhatsApp, as well as photographs that are sent and received on photo-sharing apps such as Snapchat and Instagram, etc.
Final words
Even though monitoring our teen’s mobile phone might go against our core principles, for reasons stated in this article, it is better to err on the side of caution than to risk one or more of our children being trapped by a sexual predator, or caught in an unsavoury online game, etc. Therefore, it is a good idea to monitor our kids’ mobile phone usage, so that we are in the position to take remedial and protective action should one or the other be necessary, rather than have to pick up the pieces post factum.
