School districts across 19 states claim that the companies do not adequately implement features like age verification, parental controls, and session timeouts. Design choices that allow for endless scrolling, coupled with targeted algorithms, mean kids have trouble putting down their phones, creating a doom loop that can interrupt sleep at best and create serious mental health issues at worst. The schools say they've had to dedicate resources to handle this, from confiscating phones to dealing with online behavior that spills into classrooms, including dangerous social media "challenges."
https://www.pcmag.com/news/school-districts-notch-a-win-in-tech-addiction-case-against-top-platforms
Tag: snap
Snapchat is jumping on the AI selfie train with ‘Dreams’
Snapchat is now jumping on the AI selfie bandwagon with a new feature called Dreams. The first pack of Dreams is free to make and each additional one costs $1 as an in-app purchase. Snapchat users in Australia and New Zealand are getting access to Dreams starting today, followed by access opening up to the rest of the world over the coming weeks.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/29/23849611/snapchat-releases-ai-selfie-feature-dreams
Snapchat’s Snapstreaks are about to get more flexible — for a fee
Snapstreaks, a Snapchat feature that tracks how long you’ve been trading daily snaps with a friend, are about to get a little more forgiving. In a short blog post, the company says it’s testing the option to let users restore broken streaks. “Starting today, we’re making it easier to take a break with a new feature we’re testing to let you reignite the spark and restore one Streak for free with just one tap,” it writes.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/2/23621747/snapchat-snapstreaks-restore-freeze-premium-features%20SUN