IPhone's Snapchat App Promoting 'Sexting' Among Teenagers?

Fears of a rise in 'sexting' among teenagers have increased with the availability of an iPhone photo app that destroys photos seconds after they are sent. What makes Snapchat different from Instagram or Flickr, is that pictures shared through the app are time-sensitive, and senders of Snapchat photos may choose how long they want their recipients to see these photos, up to 10 seconds, before they vanish forever.

This feature, which seems specifically for sending the kind of pictures users wouldn't want recipients to hang onto permanently, has led some to question whether or not Snapchat is largely used for sexting among minors, the Washington Post reports.

However, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, though admitted previously that the app could be used for 'sexting' as "you "know" these pictures won't stick around, so...just do whatever comes to mind," he later said it is very unlikely that such instances may be actually happening.

"I just don't know people who do that. It doesn't seem that fun when you can have real sex," he said.

However, in response to concerns, Spiegel said that the Snapchat team is "trying to do a better job educating our users and their parents," and that he was looking to add more guidance materials to their website soon.

The CEO also said that the app is "not about privacy, per se" and pointed to "screen cap notifications, the requirement that users must know their recipients usernames on the app and the fact that photos must be sent live."

Source-ANI