Snapchat creeps me out!

When I sat down to write this, I was going to examine how stupid my classmates look when they take selfies, most likely with Snapchat.  However my plan of action drastically changed when I looked up a little more info about this app "everyone" is using.

 

I had previously thought that people had sent pictures on Snapchat sort of like an IM system that exclusively focused on pictures.  However, when I went on Wikipedia (it's good enough for laymen, not scholars), I found out that the reason why I see everyone tapping and holding their new messages.  It's because that you can only read Snapchat messages when tapping and holding them.  Even *better* is the fact that once you open your new message, you only have 1-10 seconds to see it.  Then, it is "deleted."  (Actually, the software doesn't provide a way for users to ordinarily view past messages.  The exception is with tinkering with the code of the app or using an app emulator.)

 

Ok... Maybe I've been "living under a rock," so to say, since I don't have a smartphone.  Regardless of that, I still think that this self-deleting messaging service sounds like something out of a spy movie.

 

When I told my curious mom what I was writing about, she noted how the service would be excellent for terrorists to use, since the messages delete themselves in Snapchat.  (Apparently, my mom likes to point out security issues in technology that permits extremely communication.)  I pointed out to my mom that Snapchat servers (technically... yes, it's all very technical) save users' past 200 messages.  Despite this, I thought it would be harder for the federal government to investigate servers that really aren't dedicated to saving information, such as those for Facebook and Twitter.

 

So I'm pretty much scared about this app.  Well, this isn't one of those "WARNING" chain mails fallacies but I have my misgivings about this app.  Because the last memorable thing I remember about Snapchat before today is that some teen girl talking about how some weird guys she didn't know kept sending her their pictures.  If you asked me, those guys were probably sexual predators.