What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a popular social media messaging app that allows you to send and receive pictures and videos (called a Snap) to users. Snap Inc is the developer of the app and also creates other products such as Snapchat Spectacles.
It is available for both Android and iOS users and is free to download.

Credit: TechCrunch
How does Snapchat work?
It was initially a private photo-sharing app. However, Snapchat features now include short videos, games, video chat, messaging, a place to store photos and more.
Each Snap shared with your followers is temporary and is available for 24 hours unless you delete it or set a different limit. You can also add different filters, lenses, emojis and text to your Snap. Additionally, you can create a group chat to talk with friends or message individual friends.
As well as the above, Snapchat has a ‘Discovery’ and ‘Spotlight area.
- The Discovery feature – works as a newsfeed featuring content from news publishers and well-known people. Some use this feature to meet new people.
- The Spotlight feature – working like TikTok, Spotlight is a dedicated tab in Snapchat for promoting short viral videos. The Spotlight feature will use an algorithm to recommend the ‘most engaging’ posts to watch based on what a user is interested in.
To register, users must download the social media app to their device. Then they must enter their date of birth and create and username and password. Users are then asked to enter their mobile phone number. This is an optional step to help if you get locked out of your account. However, you can use email instead if you prefer.
What is My AI?
With the popularity of AIs like ChatGPT, Snapchat has added their own version called My AI. It appears in users’ contact lists automatically. Unlike other contacts, My AI cannot be deleted unless you have Snapchat+, Snapchat’s premium subscription option.
My AI works like any other chatbot, allowing users to have conversations with AI. Like ChatGPT, it can also provide more detailed answers like the solution to a Maths problem. With any AI tool, it’s important that children understand appropriate and inappropriate ways to use it to support skill-building.