Since I work with students I need to stay up on as many adolescent trends as possible. Snapchat’s popularity skyrocketed this year as did its potential dangers. I’m all for social media and changing technologies, but we need to be aware of how they’re influencing our behavior. Snaphack is just another social medium with the potential to influence our behavior. It was also the subject of the fifth most popular post this year at The Christian Nerd.
A few months ago I wrote about Snapchat, an app that allows its users to send photos and videos to other users. After a set amount of time, normally a few seconds, the photos and videos disappear somewhere into cyberspace never to be viewed again.
Someone learned how to hack a phone, though, and find the photos that had seemingly been lost. That process took some technical knowledge and a couple hours so most people kept using Snapchat. Embarrassing and potentially explicit photos could still be shared without fear of someone keeping them beyond a few seconds.
That was until Snaphack was released.
Snaphack is an app that costs $0.99 and allows its users to view, download and save any photo sent through Snapchat, all without the sender’s knowledge. So I could send you an embarrassing picture of myself believing that you would be the only person to see it. Imagine my dismay, however, when I saw that picture shared on Instagram for the entire world to see.
I have always been leery of Snapchat because of its potential dangers. The temptation to send inappropriate photos and videos through Snapchat is great, especially for impulsive high school students. The perceived privacy and temporary nature of Snapchat made it a breeding ground for bad decisions, which could have led to irrevocable damage to reputations and futures.
I kind of hope Snaphack sticks and kills Snapchat. I know a lot of my students would be upset but I’m all for anything that removes temptation from their lives.
Temptation is a reality for all of us, whether we’re Snapchat users or not. Thankfully God promises to provide a way out of every temptation we face. Unfortunately we often miss the way out because we’ve got our eyes closed and are headed towards temptation at warp 9. If we hope to see God’s way out of temptation we have to be looking for it.
I think that Snaphack could be God’s way out of Snapchat’s temptation.
What helps you see God’s way out of temptation?
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