I can clearly remember
back to 2014 when I made my very first Snapchat. My username was “manderrzz”
and I was filled with excitement about this new social media application in
which I could exchange pictures with all of my best friends. Due to my
excitement, I can guarantee that I quickly skipped through all of the
introductory steps, including their Terms of Service.
As you can see from the
image above, Snapchat makes it very simple for users to agree to their terms of
use and privacy policies. For some users, who may not have even read the terms
of use and privacy policy, they are essentially agreeing to something they are not
truly educated on. Unfortunately, I am a victim of this and have taken it upon
myself to gain some knowledge on what really goes into Snapchat!
As I proceeded in opening
up the very long and frequently unread document, I began navigating through it.
After doing some scrolling and reading, I was able to take away some intriguing
highlights from their Terms of Service, or what they like to call the “Terms”
(Snap Inc.).
What’s Inside the “Terms”
- No one under the age of 13 is allowed to
create an account
- Users grant Snapchat a license to use the
content you create, upload, post, etc.
- Users are responsible for any mobile
charges they may experience when using their Services
- Users may not use the Services in a manner
that bullies, defames, infringes someone else’s rights of privacy, etc.
Of
course, those highlights only summarize about 1/8 of the document, however, those
facets felt important to make note of. The document was broken down into 22
sections, each discussing the topic that is labeled. For example, bullet number
3 was taken from section 11 titled “Data Charges and Mobile Phones” (Snap
Inc.). This takeaway actually caught me off guard as I had no idea that Snapchat
could possibly charge me for something I may encounter when using their Services.
As a free application, I never expected something like this to be included in
their Terms and Services. Additionally, I was not aware that as a user of
Snapchat I am granting Snap Inc. a license to use the content that I create,
upload, post, and store. This opened my eyes a lot because I will now keep in
mind that the pictures and videos I send to my friends and post to my stories
is not seen by just those individuals. I am certain that this will also open
the eyes of others as I frequently come across content that goes against much of the Terms and Services.
It
is reasonable to assume that most of the Snapchat population has not read the
Snapchat Terms and Services and is not aware of what it states. With that being
said, there are several Snapchat users who have no idea that they could be or
are using the Services in a manner that violates the rules. The document briefly
references the respect of other’s rights when using Snapchat’s services, which
brings me to discuss an essential concept of social media and the other. Michael
Salter, author of “Crime, justice and social media” explores the concept of
online abuse and crime associated with social media platforms. While he goes
onto discuss the several social media websites that impact online abuse and
responses to it, Snapchat is included in those websites. With the ability to exchange
both pictures and videos as well as text, it can be valid to say that several
users will abuse the services for the wrong reasons, like participating in online abuse. Salter states that “online
abuse is a public issue, regardless of the online mode through which it is
delivered” (Salter, p. 5). This is true
because with Snapchat, there remains the possibility for individuals to be
bullied or harassed or have their rights of publicity and privacy be violated
by someone else. These scenarios, from the Terms and Services, are examples of
online abuse as defined by Salter. Actions as little as screenshotting a Snapchat without consent or sending unwanted pictures to a friend can be classified as online abuse and disobey the Terms and Services.
Although
I did not take the time to read the document in its entirety, I was able to discover
something that I felt was missing from their Terms and Services. The Snapchat
Terms and Services went into great detail when discussing the necessary
elements about Snapchat and individual account holders. However, I believe that
there should have been an opening section defining what it is that Snapchat should be used for and what resources are available to users. By stating exactly
what the use of Snapchat is intended for, this would allow individuals who are
signing up for an account to get a general idea of the affordances of Snapchat.
It is important that users gain an understanding of what they have the ability
to do with that platform and what that platform was truly made to do. By not
including this section in the Terms and Services, I believe there lies the potential
for users to abuse the application in inappropriate manners that would not
abide by the Terms.
I
typically skip through the terms and conditions and privacy policies of any
application, but in this case, Snapchat, because I am too idle to read through
ten or more pages of general information that I most likely will not understand.
As a technology-savvy individual I generally have an idea of the application I
am signing up for prior to making an account. Due to my exposure to social media
platforms and technology over the years, I tend to skip the Terms and
Conditions as I don’t feel they will provide me with any useful information.
However, after learning more about Snapchat’s Terms and Services, I have a
new appreciation for these lengthy documents. These documents are here by
law but also to provide beneficial information to users. Terms and Conditions documents
clearly state what the application is meant for, what is right and wrong, and what
will occur if an issue were to arise. This document is very accessible to
users as it is the first link to come up when searched on Google and it is laid
out in the Settings tab in every Snapchat users account. Being that it is so accessible, there should be no reason for a user to claim they “didn’t know something” as all
the information they would ever need to know is easily accessible. From now
on I am going to do my best to at least skim through the Terms and Conditions of any new
application I download onto my phone. It is crucial that we obey these
conditions and appropriately use services as inconvenient consequences, that
can be easily avoided, could arise.
References
Salter,
M. (2016). Crime, Justice and Social Media: New Directions in Critical
Criminology. Routledge.
Snap
Inc. Terms of Service. (2019, October 30). Snap Inc. Retrieved
March 12, 2020. https://www.snap.com/en-US/terms
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