10 yr old - snapchat and tik tok

[virtuallyreal]

My 10 year old DD is desperate to be allowed to have snapchat and tiktok (usual story of how EVERYONE else already has it!). Tiktok is a firm no from me, that won't be happening.

But I was wondering what people's thoughts are on snapchat? I haven't used it for years but when I did it was only used for sending photos to your own contacts/friends. If that's the case then I don't think I mind her having it as she already has whatsapp and can message her friends through that so sending funny photos through snapchat isn't much different. Is there anything that I'm not aware of about snapchat though that would leave her open to seeing things she shouldn't be seeing or having people she doesn't know messaging her?

Would welcome any thoughts/advice. Thanks!

Snapchat is much worse than TikTok (and I love TikTok but wouldn’t let a 10 year old have it) really easy for ‘friends of friends’ to get contact details to send things, I’ve seen child protection police say it’s worst of the social media for showing violent or sexual content to children

Oh Hell fucking no. I've seen more unsolicited dick pics on Snapchat than on all the other platforms combined. It's a perverts paradise on there. My kids aren't having it until they're paying for their own contract. Period. I pay for it, I set the terms of use. They're quite welcome to not have a phone if they don't like my rules.

No way! But then I don't think 10yo should have WhatsApp either.

Have you watched I am Ruth? Or any of the many other programs / articles about the dangers of SM? Keep her safe until she's old enough to deal with it appropriately

Absolutely not. Your 10yr old shouldn't have a smart phone at all. Snapchat is age limited to 13 and over, as is WhatsApp. They're not appropriate for children!.

Thank you Buffalo and Heroes, that's really helpful to know and sounds like there's much more to snapchat than there was when it first started and not something I'll be letting my daughter have.

Other posters seem not to have read my first post properly it would seem. I didn't ask for opinions on whether she should have a phone nor does my post imply I'm not aware of the dangers of social media as I quite clearly said tiktok is a firm no and if I didn't care about researching the potential dangers of snapchat I wouldn't have created this post...

Thanks again to the posters who very helpfully addressed my actual question, really appreciate it.

No, Snapchat is notoriously insecure and she is far too young.