Snapchat’s Family Center is a new feature that allows parents to monitor their teen’s Snapchat activity and interactions. It provides visibility into who teens are friends with and communicating with, while still allowing teens to express themselves creatively and safely. Accessing Family Center as a parent is simple, but does require setting up a Snapchat account if you don’t already have one.
What is Snapchat Family Center?
Snapchat Family Center is a tool within Snapchat that allows parents to see who their teen is friends with on Snapchat and who they have been messaging, without revealing any of the content of conversations. Parents can see new friends and added friends within the last 7 days. It provides insights to help parents stay aware of who their teen is talking to, while still giving teens independence in managing their own friendships and creative expression.
Key features of Snapchat Family Center include:
- See your teen’s friends list and new friends from the last 7 days
- Know who your teen has been messaging on Snapchat, without any message content
- Make sure your teen’s settings are right for them, like who can contact them, their location sharing preferences, and more
- Get expert resources to help you have constructive conversations about online safety, privacy, and more
Family Center aims to help bridge the digital generation gap between parents and teens by improving transparency and communication around social media use.
Who can use Snapchat Family Center?
Snapchat Family Center is designed for parents and guardians of teenagers between 13-18 years old who have a Snapchat account. Both the parent and the teen must opt-in to activate Family Center and agree to its use. Here are the requirements:
- Parent/guardian must be 18+ and have a Snapchat account
- Teen must be between 13-18 years old and have a Snapchat account
- Both parties must opt-in and consent to using Family Center
- Parent and teen accounts must be friends on Snapchat
- Only one parent/guardian can use Family Center per teen account
Without both sides agreeing to use it, Family Center will not be activated. Teens can remove parent access at any time. Parents using Family Center must abide by Snapchat’s Community Guidelines like any other user.
How parents can set up Snapchat Family Center
As a parent, here are the steps to set up Snapchat Family Center for your teen’s account:
- Download the Snapchat app – Get the Snapchat app from the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android). You’ll need to create your own Snapchat account if you don’t already have one.
- Add your teen as a friend – Search for your teen’s username and add them as a friend on Snapchat. They must accept your friend request.
- Open Settings and tap Family Center – Go to your Snapchat Settings and scroll down to see the “Family Center” option. Tap to open it.
- Verify your parental status – Snapchat will ask you to confirm you are the parent/guardian of the teen account holder. It requires you to enter your teen’s birthday.
- Turn on Family Center – Toggle on the option to enable Family Center for your teen’s account. Both you and your teen must enable it.
- Invite teen to enable – Snapchat will prompt you to invite your teen via Snapchat to enable their side of Family Center. Send them an invite.
- Teen accepts invite – Your teen must accept the Family Center invite in their Snapchat app for it to be fully enabled.
Once your teen has accepted the Family Center invite, you will be able to access monitoring features in your own Snapchat app’s Family Center. You must regularly use your own Snapchat account for Family Center privileges to remain enabled.
What parents can see in Family Center
As a parent, here are the monitoring features you can access through your Snapchat app’s Family Center:
- Who’s in your teen’s friends list
- Any new friends your teen has added in the last 7 days
- A list of people your teen has messaged on Snapchat in the last 7 days, without any of the content
- Settings and privacy controls for your teen’s account
- Resources about talking to your teen about online safety and wellbeing
The main dashboard shows your teen’s Snapchat friends list, new friends, and recent messages/chats. Tap into each section to see details. You can see new friends your teen has added, but you cannot see any Snaps, stories, messages, content, or location information.
Friends List
In the Friends List section, you will see:
- Total number of friends your teen has on Snapchat
- List of all current friends
- Option to report or block any friends
New Friends
In the New Friends section, you will see:
- List of any new friends your teen has added in the last 7 days
- Date new friends were added
- Option to report or block any new friends
Message History
In the Message History section, you will see:
- List of Snapchat users your teen has messaged in the last 7 days
- Number of Snaps, Chats, and Stories exchanged (but not the content)
- Option to report any conversations
This gives insight into messaging without revealing any private conversations.
How teens can enable Family Center
For parents to gain Family Center access, teens must opt-in and enable the feature as well. Here are the steps for a teen to enable Family Center:
- Receive Family Center invite – Your parent/guardian must send you a Family Center invite via Snapchat. Open the Snap they send you.
- Review invitation – The Snap will explain your parent wants to enable Family Center for your account. Read about what they would be able to monitor.
- Accept invite – If you consent to your parent using Family Center, tap to accept their invitation. This will enable it.
- Enable parent access – After accepting, open your Snapchat Settings. Under “Family Center” toggle on the setting to confirm you agree to activation.
- You’re done! – Family Center will now be enabled. Your parent will have access to monitoring features on their own Snapchat.
At any time, you can disable Family Center by toggling off the setting under Family Center in your Snapchat Settings. You can also block a parent at any time like any other friend.
What can teens manage in Family Center?
With Family Center enabled, teens can still exercise control over their account. Here are key actions teens can take:
- Disable Family Center at any time in Settings
- Remove parent’s access fully by blocking them
- Manage friend list and new friends – parents can only view
- Continue messaging privately without parents seeing content
- Change who can contact them, share locations, etc.
- Use Snapchat while Family Center is enabled without limitation
The main monitor features are on the parent’s side. Teens still have independence in how they use Snapchat daily.
Pros and cons for parents
There are both advantages and disadvantages for parents to weigh when considering Snapchat Family Center:
Pros
- Oversee teen’s friends list and new friends
- Monitor recent messages without invading privacy
- Ensure settings like location sharing are appropriate
- Open conversations about online safety
- Stay up to date on who teens are talking to
Cons
- Does not share teens’ content or conversations
- Teens can still block parents or disable
- Features limited compared to full monitoring apps
- Requires teens’ consent to enable
- Only available via Snapchat app
Overall, Family Center provides helpful but limited visibility into teens’ Snapchat activity that respects their privacy. It is not full monitoring and teens hold the control.
Pros and cons for teens
Teens have their own set of tradeoffs to consider when their parents want to enable Family Center:
Pros
- Maintains privacy of content/conversations
- Can disable monitoring at any time
- May provide reassurance to parents
- Helps identify potentially concerning relationships
- Doesn’t restrict Snapchat usage
Cons
- Parents can see friends lists and new friends
- Monitoring of Snapchat messaging history
- Parents enabled without consent
- Potential for overreach by parents
- Feeling of lost trust or independence
Teens have to weigh increased monitoring against maintaining autonomy. Family Center avoids exposing private content, but does reveal conversations and connections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Family Center mandatory for teens?
No, Snapchat Family Center is voluntary for teens and will only work if teens consent. Parents cannot enable it without the teen first accepting the invitation in the app. Teens can also disable it at any time without a parent’s permission.
Can parents see messages in Family Center?
No, parents cannot see the content of any Snaps, Chats, or Stories in Family Center. They can only see the names of Snapchat friends the teen has messaged recently, but with no details of the conversations.
Do teens get notified when parents use Family Center?
Yes, if parents are actively monitoring Family Center the teen will see an indicator on their profile and friends list showing their parent is currently using the feature. But there are no notifications if parents are not currently using it.
What if a parent doesn’t use Snapchat?
Parents must have their own Snapchat account and app to use Family Center. If a parent does not use Snapchat actively, they will lose access to Family Center. It requires ongoing Snapchat usage to maintain access.
Can parents see location in Family Center?
No, Family Center does not show any location data. Parents can only see the overall location sharing settings on the teen’s account, not actual locations.
Conclusion
Snapchat Family Center provides a way for parents to gain insights into their teen’s friendships and conversational activity on Snapchat, while respecting teen’s privacy and autonomy. It is an optional monitoring tool requiring consent on both sides. Teens maintain control over their account usage and settings. While not full surveillance, it opens communication around social media boundaries. Parents should weigh if its limited visibility meets their concerns, and teens should consider if the features fit their privacy comfort level in using Snapchat.