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Mom's on Snapchat? Chill out, already

Alexandra Mosher
USA TODAY

Yes, it's true. People over 35 are using Snapchat. In fact, it may be your mom, and she wants to be friends.

What do you do? Is it game over to the precious social media platform that allows us to send chats, photos and videos that disappear in an instant?

Snapchat and Instagram are competing with Facebook for people's attention.

For a start, a dose of reality. The influx of the parent generation hasn't turned away Snapchat's large demographic of people ages 18-24.

According to ComScore, 68% of U.S. smartphone users 18-24 were on Snapchat in May, 1 percentage point less than in the prior month but up from 57% a year before. That compares with 14% for the 35+ crowd, vs. 8% in May 2015.

For those who fall into the 18-24 demographic, there's no reason to leave because of the older generation. If you want to retain your privacy, there are ways to tweak who sees what.

No one can see what you post on your Story, the chronological feed of photos and videos that you post for all your friends to see within 24 hours — unless you add them.

Custom settings

If you're being pestered about why you're being so suspicious and not adding someone, you can decide in your settings who gets to see your stories and who doesn't.

Go to the camera and press the ghost at the top of your screen. After that, in the upper right-hand corner there is a wheel icon that takes you to your settings. Go to your settings and scroll down till you see "Who can..." and then click "View My Story" and the app, which is defaulted to "My Friends," will allow you to also choose "Everyone" or "Custom." If you choose Custom you can go through and select which of your friends you want to block from seeing your story.

Screenshot from Snapchat of the screen that allows you to choose who sees your story or doesn't.

People want to control who's looking at their Snapchat stories, and it's not because of explicit content.

It's the impermanence of the photos, videos and chats you share that can make the social platform feel lighthearted. That's important in a world that's constantly reminding you of how everyone is looking at your social media.

Myles Button, 22, said that he appreciates Snapchat because unlike on other social media platforms, he doesn't have to filter his content as if people he might network with or potential employers are looking at it. He's not talking about inappropriate pictures but, for example, a picture of him drinking a beer with his friends for the Fourth of July. If he posted on Facebook, he'd be too afraid a potential employer would think that it's a regular activity for him, he says.

Teaching Mom

Some users don't mind Mom on the platform. In fact, they taught her how to use it.

Allison Ford, 23, said that she made her mom make a Snapchat so she could debunk the negative idea her mom had about Snapchat and because, well, it's fun. It's also been a nice way of keeping in contact with her mom, who Ford said is Snapchat illiterate but still looks at her stories every day.

Breanna Denney, 20, said she did the same thing and it's been the best way of keeping in contact with her mom and showing her what she's been up to.

The end result? Ford said "ugly baby pictures" of herself and lots of pictures of her cat.

"One time she accidentally sent my friend who I don't really talk to a picture of her foot," Ford said. "My friend texted me and asked if everything was OK and said that my mom has a nice pedicure..."

A snapchat received by Allison Ford, 23, from her mom. Ford said a majority of the snapchats she gets from her mom are baby pictures of herself and of her cat.

If someone is really pestering you about seeing your stories, then there's always the option of creating another Snapchat account that you use to post every time you're studying at the library or volunteering at the local pet shelter.

It's tricky and the user should realize that nothing is ever really hidden on the Internet. So ask first: Is this really a good idea?

For ultimate privacy, on the account that you don't want a contact to see, go back to the ghost at the top of your camera screen, press it and then go to "My Friends." After that go to "Contacts" at the top and then scroll to whomever you don't want to see your Snapchat, click on their name, click on the wheel in the screen that pops up with their information, and click "Block."

Now when they search for you in their contacts to add you as a friend, only your angelic account will come up. Voila.

Remember: there are multiple third-party apps that allow your Snapchat friends to save your content without you knowing it. These third-party apps have also been known to be vulnerable to hacking as in the "Snappening" of 2014 where hundreds of thousands of saved Snapchat videos and photos were leaked from the third-party app SnapSaved.

And whoever sees your stories can take a screenshot and recirculate it. Unless you're sharing photos of the cat, snap carefully.

A picture of Allison's Ford cat sent to her over Snapchat from her mom at home.
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