Snapchat’s got a creepy new update—Snap Map. The newest feature, introduced on Thursday, seemingly aims to compete with Facebook and Apple, but it’s a much more disconcerting version of their location features.
While Facebook’s “Nearby Friends” feature will show people your general location, for example, Snapchat’s feature shows your exact street location. According to the BBC, was provided by third-party service Map Box. Although Snapchat believes that they’ve introduced a brand new way to explore the world, they’re really just perpetuating a culture of oversharing. Needless to say, Snap Map has mixed reviews.
Whilst some were humorous:
Taking full advantage of the Snapchat update. pic.twitter.com/XJMd4z5p4h
— kody (@KodeineCrazy) June 23, 2017
Person: “u home??”
me: “na wassup?”
Person:”……snapchat says u home tho?”
me: pic.twitter.com/SNy3WqH1Ka— (@Princessofwifi) June 23, 2017
Others quickly realized how bad the implications of this feature could be for the most vulnerable people using Snapchat—in particular, young children who may not be aware of the dangers of sharing their location with anyone who decides to follow them on the platform.
THE NEW SNAPCHAT UPDATE LETS YOU SEE THE EXACT LOCATION OF PEOPLE…like literal addresses! Please turn it to ghost mode, this is not safe!! pic.twitter.com/ra54TpqwcH
— bella (@BellasSpot) June 22, 2017
All it takes now is for some creep some where to add young children on snapchat and boom, they can follow their every move ? #snapmap
— J. Ashe (@Jake_Ashe) June 23, 2017
Jack Brody, a designer at Snapchat, told Refinery29 that the Snap Map is “turning the map upside down,” and insists that this is a feature that many Snapchatters will want. “One of the habits we’ve seen with our users is that they’ll take a snap where they are, put on the geofilter, and post it to their story with a caption like ‘hit me up,'” Brody said.
But it’s important to note that there is an opt-out option in place if you do not want to be “hit up.” Before your Snap Map is activated, you’ll be asked who you want to be able to see it. One of the options provided is Ghost Mode, meaning that only you will be able to see your location. You can also choose to share your location only with specific friends rather than anyone who follows you. Alternatively, you can just go into your settings and completely shut off location services for Snapchat—but then you won’t get geofilters. Win some, lose some!