Snapchat

Snapchat is a multimedia instant messaging application and service developed by Snap Inc., formerly known as Snapchat Inc., in the United States. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Snapchat is that photos and messages are often only visible for a brief period of time before they are no longer viewable by their receivers. It has grown from its initial emphasis on person-to-person picture sharing to now include users' "Stories," which include 24 hours of chronological material, as well as "Discover," which allows businesses to display ad-supported short-form content. Also available is the "my eyes only" feature, which enables users to store their pictures in a password-protected area of the website. End-to-end encryption has also been implemented, with intentions to expand its usage in the future, according to the article.

Snapchat was founded by three Stanford University alumni, Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown, who were all former classmates. Known for reflecting a fresh, mobile-first approach to social networking, it puts a strong focus on users engaging with virtual stickers and augmented reality items. Snapchat has 293 million daily active users as of July 2021, representing a 23 percent increase over the previous year. Every day, more than four billion Snaps are transmitted, which is a worldwide record. Snapchat is very popular among younger generations, especially among those under the age of 16, causing numerous privacy worries among parents of children using the app.