Why disable Snap Map

It has been a month or so that Snapchat introduced Snap Map. Many people find it useful, especially when you have nothing to do. Just open the Snap Map and see who is nearby.

I tried this new feature too. At first, it's quite interesting seeing my friends who were having their graduation trip on the other side of the map. However, after using it for a few weeks, I found it quite creepy because there might be a chance that some of your friends are stalking you. As Snapchat is getting popular and popular, some people might accept anonymous request. Strangers could guess your home address merely by seeing how long you've stayed in a particular place.

My Story vs Our Story

How about your friends' privacy?

I couldn't tell the difference at first. After I posted a story on Our Story, some of my friends who didn't add me told me they saw my story in Causeway Bay. I realized that Our Story is public to everyone, whilst My Story is only visible to my friends. Privacy concerns starts to surface. Although my friend doesn't mind, but his location and activity is visible to the public because of me.

What are blue spots?

As I was curious at the new feature, I clicked on the blue spots on the map. It shows other people's Our Story at that place. It is common seeing people posting selfies with their friends. As you might have realized, Facebook's face recognition system is quite sophisticated. If you search someone's face online, their Facebook profile or other related websites are likely to appear. Information like your birth, phone, emails or even your family's names will can be found. Everyone should stay alert when posting on Our Story.

How to stay invisible

1. Disable Location Service

Either turn off location service in your phone, or simply don't allow Snapchat to access your location. Your Bitmoji will turn grey and stay at the last place you've appeared. Only enable the location service if you want to access Snap Map and look at snaps around you. However, it might prevent you from using Geo Filters, which might be inconvenient.

2. Ghost Mode

Click Settings at the right hand corner of Snap Map. Turn on Ghost Mode. It will remove your last known location on the map and prevent it from showing up at all anymore.

#snapchat #socialmedia #map #privacy