It is pointed out that the function to visualize the friendship relationship between yourself and your friends as ``planet of the solar system'' is hurting the hearts of teenagers
Paid plans for the photo-sharing SNS app ``Snapchat'' for smartphones are equipped with the ``Friend Solar System,'' a feature that compares relationships with friends to the solar system. The Wall Street Journal has published an article saying that this Friend Solar System is hurting the hearts of teenagers.
Snapchat's Friend-Ranking Feature Adds to Teen Anxiety - WSJ
Friend Solar System is one of the features available on Snapchat +, a subscription service that costs $ 4 per month (about 600 yen). Friend Solar System ranks the relationships between users and their friends according to the frequency of communication with them, and displays them as planets in the solar system.
For example, as shown in the screen below, if you open a friend's profile and see a globe, this indicates that the friend is the user's third best friend. This ranking is visible only to you and not to other users. Also, if you want to get closer to that friend, you can also pin them.
A Snapchat spokesperson said: 'The Friend Solar System is one of more than 30 features in Snapchat+, most of which allow users to customize the app, all of which can be easily turned off.' says. As the spokesperson says, the Friend Solar System can be turned off, but it is turned on by default.
According to The Wall Street Journal, there are cases where the Friend Solar System is having a negative impact on young users' relationships. A teenage female user was suspected of cheating after learning that her boyfriend was rated as Neptune, the lowest rank, and another male friend was rated as Mercury, the highest rank. Apparently they got into a fight.
Maximilian Milobidov, a 17-year-old from London, said, ``Do we really need a platform to prove that we're best friends?''
In recent years, concerns that SNS may be having a negative impact on the mental health of young people have been raised as a social issue. In the United States, the attorneys general of 41 states and the District of Columbia have filed suit claiming that Instagram and Facebook are harmful to young people's mental health.
42 attorneys general sue Meta saying ``Instagram and Facebook harm children's mental health'' - GIGAZINE
In addition, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, spoke about children who are driven to suicide due to the influence of SNS and their I apologized to my family.
The CEOs of X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Snap, Discord, and Meta will be summoned to a hearing on child safety on social media. Apology to family - GIGAZINE
There are studies that show no relationship between happiness and the global use of social media, and there is also evidence that brain development during adolescence is dramatically altered by the use of digital technology. Not shown . The academic journal Nature says, ``It is not that social media use has a negative impact on mental health, but rather that young people with existing mental health problems use social media more frequently or in different ways than healthy young people. 'This suggests that they may be using social media,' he said, expressing doubts about the attitude of recklessly demanding responsibility from social media.
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