What is Houseparty, and how does it work?

Houseparty is a new group video chat app available on both apple and android devices.

You can add friends based on the phone numbers you have stored in your contacts or search for their usernames. Once you open the app, you can join “”rooms”” (the apps’ name for chats) with other friends who are currently in the app.

Chats are limited to eight participants per room, but you can have as many rooms as you want (you can navigate between simultaneous chats by swiping across the screen.)

The app has apparently already amassed a sizable user base, primarily among teenagers. In many ways, the app is tailored to these younger users: emoji are sprinkled liberally throughout the app and the app’s interface, which launches directly in the camera, feels remarkably similar to Snapchat.

Its creators say it encourages users to have frequent, candid conversations with their friends and family. The question for parents is: Is this new social media app safe for my child?

Safety and privacy concerns

When a user is in a Houseparty group chat, a connection from one of the in-chat members can choose to join the group, even though they are not connected or known to the other users. Houseparty does however give you the option to lock your conversations. When the conversation has been locked, everyone is notified that the user has locked the conversation and if someone should try to join, they are blocked from doing that. So, if your kids are going to be using the Houseparty app, we encourage you to get them into the habit of locking the conversation. If someone within the conversation unlocks the chat, then everyone is notified that the conversation has been unlocked.

One major issue with this, and other similar apps, is unless the parent is sitting on their kid’s shoulder, they will not know what is happening or being said on the video chat. The v ...