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    Snapchat adds chat as messaging space heats up

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1224 Views

    By Barbara Ortutay, Technology Writer

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

    Snapchat is adding a chat feature to its ephemeral messaging service.

    Despite its name, the Snapchat app has never offered real-time conversation —until now. Previously, users were only able to send each other photos and videos that self-destruct a few seconds after they are viewed.

    The Los Angeles startup said Thursday that Snapchat users will be able to chat by swiping right on a friend's name. When users leave the chat screen, messages will be automatically deleted. In keeping with Snapchat's tradition, users can take screenshots of the chat if they want to preserve it.

    Users will also be able to video chat, as they would with Skype or FaceTime.

    Snapchat's expansion comes at a time when mobile messaging apps are soaring in popularity as people look beyond traditional texting to communicate and share photos and videos. Some apps also accommodate more than just texts and photos, making them all the more appealing. Tango, for instance, allows music to be shared through Spotify's streaming service. KakaoTalk lets people share voice memos and location, along with animated emoticons.

    In one example of mobile messaging's increasing value, Facebook, which reportedly has tried to acquire Snapchat for $3 billion, agreed to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion in February. WhatsApp has half a billion users, up from 465 million in February. In comparison, Twitter had has 255 million users.

    Other popular messaging apps include Facebook's own messenger, as well as Tango, which has some 200 million users and recently received a $215 million investment from China's Alibaba Group. Another one, Viber Media, sold for $900 million earlier this year to Japan's Rakuten Inc.




    Australia’s House of Representatives passes bill that would ban young children from social media

    Wednesday, November 27, 2024
    14-year-old Henry, right, and Angel, 15, use their phones to view social media in Sydney, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

    Australia's House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize the world-first law.

    The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.

    The legislation passed 102 to 13. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced.

    Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver's licenses. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system.

    "Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it's not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people's lives," Tehan told Parliament.

    Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later Wednesday. The major parties' support all but guarantees the legislation will pass in the Senate, where no party holds a majority of seats.

    Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for... Read More

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