A teenager has told how he was groomed by criminals to sell heroin and crack cocaine after being recruited through a post on Snapchat.

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This location based map allows users to see where in the country their Snapchat contacts are, as well as seeing location based photos and videos. The Snap Map shows a user’s Bitmoji, their cartoon avatar within Snapchat, pinpointed on a world map. Users can then zoom into the map to see the exact location of their friends.

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Snapchat’s next big feature wants to get you to meet up with friends in real life rather than just watching each other’s lives on your phones. Snap Map lets you share your current location, which appears to friends on a map and updates when you open Snapchat.

When I work with young people I help them make informed choices about whether there are more risks than benefits of having 'location' active on their devices.

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Snapchat has recently made it easier for users to report content. A new safety feature on the app allows users to report within Snapchat Stories as it is being viewed.

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'Snapchat' - it sounds so harmless. Those two syllables denote a world of cute mouse ears, rainbow symbols and facial distortion filters that burst onto our smartphones as messages for a matter of seconds, before disappearing forever. The app now seems to be as common among 50-somethings as millennials (judging from my friends’ parents who have just discovered the #LOL filters).

The only time we hear a negative report of the app, is when it's used by teens to sext. That’s when alarm bells start ringing - mainly for parents and teachers, often at a loss to know how to stop kids exploring their sexuality on social media.

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Essential and entertaining reading for all parents, carers and adults who work with young people.

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