What Is GroupMe and Is it Safe?
The communication system has undergone a drastic change over the years. This process has traveled quite long, from sending handwriting letters to advanced instant messaging. GroupMe is a part of this progressive process that helps you instantly interact with your friends.
It contains a wide number of features that make your interaction easier. These features are private chat, group message, notification controls, sharing images & videos, and chat with thousands of emojis, GIFs, stickers, Meme images.
Besides, GroupMe is quite safe to use with some caution if we talk about its security. This is because this app doesn’t have end-to-end encryption to secure your chatting. Keep reading this article to know more about the GroupMe app and its security policy.
All About the GroupMe App
It was developed in 2010 at a TechCrunch disrupt event. After that, this app was acquired by Skype in 2011. As Skype itself was acquired by Microsoft the same year, the group is now owned by Microsoft. Since then, GroupMe has been working as an instant group chatting app that enables users to create groups, add people, share files, and interact with customized emoji and memes.
This app is completely free to use, where you will be able to create as many groups as you need. GroupMe now stands above Line and Skype and is more popular than Telegram and WeChat. This app is currently available on the Play Store and Microsoft Store, but if you want to download GroupMe for mac, you have to take the help of an Android emulator.
What Does The GroupMe App Offer?
As we said earlier, GroupMe contains numerous features that help to make your chatting easier and enjoyable. Some key features of this app have been demonstrated below.
Multi-Functional Chats
Chatting is easier with the GroupMe app for its excellent functions. In this app, you can add someone through this phone number in the chat. Surprisingly, GroupMe allows you to add someone using the email address, whereas other apps only require phone numbers.
Vast Groups
No messenger app will give you as many group chat facilities as GroupMe does. Most messaging apps allow adding not more than 200 or 250 participants. In that case, GroupMe enables you to add the maximum number of participants up to 500 members.
Authoritative Control
GroupMe allows you to get the authority control of your profile. As a result, you can select what types of push notifications you want to get. Besides, this app lets you manage your groups and chats so that you can easily add or remove any user from your group. If you want to restrict or block a particular user, you can easily do it.
Video Chats
It is an excellent feature of the app, making HD video calls. Skype is integrated with the GroupMe app that makes video communication easier. As a result, you can use GroupMe video calls with individuals or go to a conference for intellect sharing.
Lots of emojis
It offers several emojis and memes to make your chat liveliness. It allows you to search any specific emoji based on your mood and show it to share with your chats and groups. Besides, you can share your memorable days through photos and videos with others.
Is GroupMe Safe to Use?
There are many things you have to consider regarding GroupMe privacy. Below, we have described the major security issues of the app.
Message Can’t Be Retrieved
Unlike any other messaging apps, GroupMe doesn’t let you delete the past messages you have sent. This means the message sent when you are out of control, angry, or confused remains on the internet forever. This is known as a digital footprint, which could lead to serious issues in the future.
Cyberbullying In GroupMe
Group chat of the social apps provide a fertile place for bullying, and GroupMe is no exception. GroupMe can encourage video children to form groups and choose a member or an object to tease, which leads your children. As the feature doesn’t allow deleting messages, the screenshot can be taken for posting on the other social sites, adding isolation and aggression.
Explicit Content
It is well-known for its vast number of emojis and GIFs. Unfortunately, these emojis have adult themes, such as alcohol and stimulants like sexy characters. Besides, some GIFs of the GroupMe app reveal clothes, drug use, and violent images & videos.
No Inbuilt Parental Control Feature
Most popular social apps come with built-in parental control features, but GroupMe doesn’t offer this feature which is not satisfying. This app doesn’t have an option to filter inappropriate content, mature GIFs, or images. For this reason, it’s better not to use GroupMe for children.
How to Keep Kids Safe from GroupMe?
Every social app has its dark side, so you need to specify the dangers of using social media, especially for children, so that they are self-conscious. Most parents become very anxious, which gives them extra control over their children.
- Parents should guide their children about the proper usage of mobile phones and the risks of getting involved in communication with strangers;
- Set up limits on the usage of apps like GroupMe that will help your kid from getting spoiled;
- Parental control apps can be used to watch the activities of their children’s cell phones. This will help monitor suspicious texts and prevent your kids from cyberbullying.
Conclusion
In sum, we hope you have got adequate information about the app. Typically, it is a prominent chatting app that helps make your communication easier and enjoyable through its excellent features. With this app, you can instantly chat with your friends, make video calls, send multimedia files, and many more.
Besides, it has numerous emojis and GIFs to make fun of while chatting. But the main issue is its security which is not enough to secure your communication that is also not safe for kids. Not to worry, following the simple guides discussed above, you can easily protect your kids.
