Snapchat is a social media platform that should be left in the past, where it belongs. If you want a career after college, do your mental health and authenticity a favor and move on from old habits. Snapchat feeds a self-destroying cycle.

“Policymakers need to look at TikTok as a systemic social media issue and create effective measures that protect children online,” said Dr. Jason Nagata in a January UCSF article covering the study. “TikTok is the most popular social media platform for children, yet kids reported having more than three different social media accounts, including Instagram and Snapchat.”

Social media giant Snapchat released an ad for the 2024 Super Bowl in which it called for “less social media” and “more Snapchat.” Let’s face it: It’s just one of the app’s many tricks meant to keep turning your mindless scrolling into billions of dollars.

The Snapchat app developed a bad reputation almost as soon as it launched. The app allows users to send picture or videos to friends who can then view the media messages once for a maximum of 10 seconds. After that, message disappears, usually never to be seen again.

Pose, snap, send for 10 seconds, destroy. That is the beauty of Snapchat, right?

Wrong. Whatever happens on Snapchat stays in the public realm of online information. Snapchat, the two-year-old app that markets itself as one of the fastest, most private photo and video sharing outlets available, warns users not to “use Snapchat to send messages if you want to be certain that the recipient cannot keep a copy.”