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SNAP Unveils Enhanced Parental Controls in Family Center Update
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Snap Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) -owned Snapchat is taking steps to enhance parental controls and address concerns related to its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot interacting with minors on inappropriate topics. The introduction of restrictions on the AI chatbot, along with improved visibility into teens' safety and privacy settings, seems to be a positive move toward ensuring a safer environment for younger users.
Snap has also focused the update on making Family Center more discoverable, especially for parents less acquainted with Snapchat. Parents can now easily access Family Center from their profile, search and settings. The goal is to simplify joining Family Center for those new to the app.
Snapchat launched Family Center in 2022 as a way for parents to view their teens’ Snapchat connections, flag concerns and manage content restrictions. Allowing parents to monitor and manage their teenagers’ interactions, as well as view privacy settings and location-sharing options, reflects a commitment to balancing user privacy with safety.
Parents can now view their teen’s privacy and safety settings directly on Snapchat. This grants visibility into who teens are sharing their stories with, either their entire friends list or a smaller circle of close friends and family. Parents will also be informed of their teenagers’ contact settings, dictating who can reach out to them on Snapchat. Contact settings limit messaging to existing friends or friends plus phone contacts.
Additionally, parents can see if their teen has location sharing enabled on Snap Map. This opt-in feature lets friends view each other’s locations and activities. Parents will know if their teenager is using it and with whom.
Beyond visibility, the latest Family Center gives parents more oversight of their teen’s use of My AI, Snapchat’s AI-powered chatbot. Parents can restrict their teen’s ability to engage with My AI entirely. This builds on existing safeguards Snapchat has implemented for the bot, like blocking harmful responses and limiting usage if misused.
Social Media Giants Face Scrutiny Amid Declining Ad Revenues
Snap is suffering from declining ad revenues as advertising partners across many industries are decreasing their marketing budgets, especially in the face of operating environment headwinds, inflation-driven cost pressure and the rising costs of capital. The persistent decline in the price-per-ad impression is likely to dent advertising revenues for the company in the near term.
To address this and maintain user engagement, Snap introduced new AI features, some of which are exclusive to its paid subscribers.
Shares of this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company have gained 26.5% in the past six-month period compared with the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s rise of 0.8%. SNAP’s recent AI efforts are expected to boost its top line in the upcoming quarters. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Snap has partnered with Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) Advertising to power Sponsored Links within My AI. This partnership leverages Microsoft Advertising's Ads for Chat API to enable the seamless delivery of relevant links during conversations. This collaboration is expected to help partners reach Snapchatters when they have expressed potential interest in their offerings.
There is increased scrutiny and regulatory pressure on social media platforms regarding the protection of young users. Snap’s collaboration with families and online safety experts shows an effort to address these concerns through community feedback.
Snap and other competitors, including Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , have been facing challenges in their advertising revenues due to fierce competition from platforms like TikTok and Meta Platforms’ (META - Free Report) Instagram, as well as changes in Apple's app privacy policies.
In its race to target TV ad dollars, Alphabet allowed third-party (Nielsen and comScore) tagging of YouTube videos to determine the effectiveness of ads on YouTube versus ads shown on TV.
The broader industry trend of social media platforms, including META, is also introducing new features to enhance child safety, indicating a growing awareness and responsibility among tech companies regarding the impact of their platforms on younger users. The formal requests for information from the European Commission further highlight the global nature of these concerns.
Meta Platforms has announced that teen Instagram and Facebook accounts will automatically be restricted from seeing harmful content, such as posts about self-harm, graphic violence and eating disorders.
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SNAP Unveils Enhanced Parental Controls in Family Center Update
Snap Inc. (SNAP - Free Report) -owned Snapchat is taking steps to enhance parental controls and address concerns related to its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot interacting with minors on inappropriate topics. The introduction of restrictions on the AI chatbot, along with improved visibility into teens' safety and privacy settings, seems to be a positive move toward ensuring a safer environment for younger users.
Snap has also focused the update on making Family Center more discoverable, especially for parents less acquainted with Snapchat. Parents can now easily access Family Center from their profile, search and settings. The goal is to simplify joining Family Center for those new to the app.
Snapchat launched Family Center in 2022 as a way for parents to view their teens’ Snapchat connections, flag concerns and manage content restrictions. Allowing parents to monitor and manage their teenagers’ interactions, as well as view privacy settings and location-sharing options, reflects a commitment to balancing user privacy with safety.
Parents can now view their teen’s privacy and safety settings directly on Snapchat. This grants visibility into who teens are sharing their stories with, either their entire friends list or a smaller circle of close friends and family. Parents will also be informed of their teenagers’ contact settings, dictating who can reach out to them on Snapchat. Contact settings limit messaging to existing friends or friends plus phone contacts.
Additionally, parents can see if their teen has location sharing enabled on Snap Map. This opt-in feature lets friends view each other’s locations and activities. Parents will know if their teenager is using it and with whom.
Beyond visibility, the latest Family Center gives parents more oversight of their teen’s use of My AI, Snapchat’s AI-powered chatbot. Parents can restrict their teen’s ability to engage with My AI entirely. This builds on existing safeguards Snapchat has implemented for the bot, like blocking harmful responses and limiting usage if misused.
Snap Inc. Price and Consensus
Snap Inc. price-consensus-chart | Snap Inc. Quote
Social Media Giants Face Scrutiny Amid Declining Ad Revenues
Snap is suffering from declining ad revenues as advertising partners across many industries are decreasing their marketing budgets, especially in the face of operating environment headwinds, inflation-driven cost pressure and the rising costs of capital. The persistent decline in the price-per-ad impression is likely to dent advertising revenues for the company in the near term.
To address this and maintain user engagement, Snap introduced new AI features, some of which are exclusive to its paid subscribers.
Shares of this Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company have gained 26.5% in the past six-month period compared with the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s rise of 0.8%. SNAP’s recent AI efforts are expected to boost its top line in the upcoming quarters. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Snap has partnered with Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) Advertising to power Sponsored Links within My AI. This partnership leverages Microsoft Advertising's Ads for Chat API to enable the seamless delivery of relevant links during conversations. This collaboration is expected to help partners reach Snapchatters when they have expressed potential interest in their offerings.
There is increased scrutiny and regulatory pressure on social media platforms regarding the protection of young users. Snap’s collaboration with families and online safety experts shows an effort to address these concerns through community feedback.
Snap and other competitors, including Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) , have been facing challenges in their advertising revenues due to fierce competition from platforms like TikTok and Meta Platforms’ (META - Free Report) Instagram, as well as changes in Apple's app privacy policies.
In its race to target TV ad dollars, Alphabet allowed third-party (Nielsen and comScore) tagging of YouTube videos to determine the effectiveness of ads on YouTube versus ads shown on TV.
The broader industry trend of social media platforms, including META, is also introducing new features to enhance child safety, indicating a growing awareness and responsibility among tech companies regarding the impact of their platforms on younger users. The formal requests for information from the European Commission further highlight the global nature of these concerns.
Meta Platforms has announced that teen Instagram and Facebook accounts will automatically be restricted from seeing harmful content, such as posts about self-harm, graphic violence and eating disorders.