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Snapchat Forced To Disable This Dangerous Feature For Its Users: Here’s What We Know

Snapchat is popular among the Gen Z as their love for AR filters and more have got millions on board. But the platform has faced scrutiny over some of its features and one dangerous feature has been forcibly disabled as people were worried about its use. Snapchat has decided to disable its feature called Solar system that may sound more like the spatial feature but it is linked to Snapchat users getting the position of other users, which straightaway raises many red flags. So what is this dangerous Snapchat feature, how can people use it and how does it affect Snapchat users, here’s everything we know.


SNAPCHAT ‘SOLAR SYSTEM’ FEATURE: WHAT IS IT

The solar system feature is basically Snapchat allowing its users to check the location of their friends and contacts and they can see the distance with the use of planets like Mars and Uranus among others. For instance, if a person is really close to you, Snapchat will show that person with Mars or Venus, which means, they are in proximity to your location. If someone is far away, you will see them with Uranus. It is only available to the Snapchat+ subscribers which is available in many countries.

Reports claim that the Snapchat feature has induced anxiety among the teens in the US which has prompted the platform to intervene and tweak the feature to reduce these issues. The paid feature has been disabled by default after these reports, giving people the choice of using it whenever they want.

Interestingly, Snapchat has not removed the feature but disabling might not entirely please the users, especially the parents of the affected teens. Snapchat wants to strike the right balance between the people who like to use it, and those who don’t. The platform also claims that only a small fraction of its paid subscribers use the feature, which seems to be another way of saying that it doesn’t feel the need to remove it altogether.

Source: news18

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