The app has over 300 million users and has a value of fifteen billion dollars. From ages 18-24, over 41% of the United States is using this app. The app makes it easy to talk to friends, send money, and view news from all over the world; however, every hero comes with a villain.

The Snapchat world has blown up over the past five years. Snapchat Users are able to send photos to each other via the app for limited amounts of time before they disappear until a void of destruction. Or so that’s what most believe…

“Snapchat is overall a fun and quick new way to communicate with friends,” Senior Nick Thorpe says. “However, although the snaps can only be seen for anywhere from 1-10 seconds, anyone can easily screenshot the picture that was sent and it is saved to your phone automatically.”

Snapchat came out with an updated version of their app in late 2016 that gave you access to view sponsored news stories. Whether its CNN world news, or the latest sports updates from ESPN. The app makes it possible for users to see what is happening in the world around them.

“Snapchat is a good source for kids to get involved in the news whether it’s in the U.S. or around the world,” Sophomore Nick Grewe says. “I was never interested in watching the news on T.V. when there are other things to watch like sports, but when on Snapchat it’s convenient to click on a single tab and hear all the news within a minute.”

Schools (public and private) are nowadays becoming more lenient when it comes to the usage of your phones during the school day. This, however; can lead to Snapchat being a mainstream influence to bullying. One can take a Snapchat of another student, add an offensive or hurtful caption, and then send to the victim himself or all of the snapchatters friends.

“While I personally don’t see the use of Snapchat for bullying at our school, I can see the potential Snapchat can bring,” Senior Jackson Anderson says. “It would be easy for any Snapchat bully to attack a victim, snap a quick picture, and send it to almost everyone he knows without the victim actually knowing.”