Snapchat is restricting how its youngest users share video. From this week, Snapchatters aged 13 to 15 will get a dedicated profile where their Stories and short-form Spotlight clips are visible only to mutually accepted friends, and will no longer be pushed to the wider public on Spotlight.
Until now, under-16s could post to Spotlight, Snap’s public, TikTok-style feed, but without their posts being attributed to a profile, a setup meant to let them join in while shielding them from strangers. The new version drops the public reach entirely for that age group and strips out engagement metrics: there are no favourite counts on these profiles, removing some of the pressure to chase numbers.
“For younger teens, we believe the default should be a more private sharing experience,” Snap said.
A tiered approach by age
Snap is splitting the experience by age. Those aged 13 to 15 get the friends-only profile. Those aged 16 and 17 get an optional, limited introduction to public sharing with extra safeguards and parental visibility.
