You might consider this crazy, but Snapchat owners have just recently refused Facebook’s offer to buy Snapchat for 3 Billion US Dollars! Yes, $3 billion! This implies that Snapchat owners value it at a higher price than 3 billion dollars, but is it really worth what they think it is?

Well, Snapchat has made a great success thus far, as an incredible amount of “Snaps” are being sent every single day. So why is Snapchat so appealing? And in particular, to whom is it so appealing? Well, in the current world of increased use and heavy reliance on social media, people have been sharing so much information and data about their selves and their personal lives via social networks, such as Facebook, and such a database is not private nor is it secure, while holding, basically, all information about users’ lives. Snapchat provides the solutions to these issues: data shared is not only private, but also secure, as pictures get deleted 10 seconds after they’re opened!

This is particularly appealing for teenagers and young adults, who prefer sharing data privately. Snapchat; however, by being not just used, but abused, raises some ethical and legal concerns regarding the types of images being shared between users.

http://www.businessinsider.com/teens-deserting-facebook-for-messaging-apps-2013-11

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-13/snapchat-s-founders-make-3-billion-bet-on-themselves.html