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Snap it, cash it: popular app goes too far

Snap+MoneySnapchat’s new feature “SnapCash” may open new doors to amateur porn. Snapchat partnered with payment firm Square to allow users to send money to friends, or whomever you’re snapchatting.

Users simply add their debit or credit card information, type in the amount they would like to send and the money goes directly into the recipient’s bank account. There’s also a swiping feature where users can “make it rain” into the recipient’s account. The new feature appears to be more convenient than other banking systems.

“A vast majority of Snapchat users never log out of Snapchat,” said Brian Roemmele, a Quora user. “Thus when needing to send cash, your graph is very likely to be a recipient. With the very simple process it makes great sense to use Snapchat as the launch point. The demographic also may not have aligned with any payment platform prior to SnapCash and this will have a rather large network effect over time.”

This feature could be good and it could be bad. I don’t believe anyone will be sending money to their friends, especially for pictures. Instagram is free.

I do, however, see it as an excellent way to beg for money from my parents with a sad face attached. I’m sure Snapchat is already used for sexting, so the new SnapCash feature is likely to increase such usage.

“The Reg has found several wannabe blue movie stars who have offered to expose their most intimate parts in exchange for donations via SnapCash,” said Jasper Hamill of The Register.

This feature is a step too far for the app. I miss the simple days of Snapchat when there was only one button.

Now there’s photo and video sharing and chat, and it’s officially become comparable to a Western Union.

Snapchat used to be only about having fun, and it appeared that things would stay that way when CEO Evan Spiegel rejected a $3 million takeover from Facebook in 2013.

Unfortunately, the app’s first ad appeared in October, signifying that it’s just as much about money as every other form of social media.

Snapchat was already an extension of sexting for some people. But now we may as well call it SnapPorn.

Would you honestly send money to your friends via a picture-sharing app? Maybe if they were nudes, but friends don’t exchange nudes. At least my friends and I don’t.

Snapchat users won’t be charged for SnapCash. Even so, this could mean an end for sex hotlines and a beginning for a modern form of sexting. Smart move, Snapchat.

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Snap it, cash it: popular app goes too far