Podcast Summary: The ConnectSafely Report with Larry Magid
Episode: Snap Getting Advice from Youth
Date: November 13, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode of The ConnectSafely Report with Larry Magid spotlights a growing trend: major tech companies, like Snap (the company behind Snapchat), are actively including young voices in their safety advisory processes. The discussion centers around how youth participation is influencing product development, language choices, and overall digital safety strategies.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Traditional Advisory Councils vs. Youth Inclusion
- Adult-dominated Councils: Larry Magid opens by noting his own experience serving on tech safety councils, which are "comprised entirely of adults."
- Shift Toward Youth Involvement: Highlighting Snap as a leader, Magid introduces their efforts to directly involve young people in shaping platform safety.
The Value of the Youth Perspective
- How Youth Shape Snap’s Platforms: Jacqueline Boucher, Snap’s Head of Global Safety, emphasizes the genuine value Snap finds in the youth voice:
- Young people help shape products, features, and platform functionality.
- Their feedback guides the language used in reporting flows, ensuring communications are relatable and relevant to teens.
- Youth advisors offer insights that adults alone might not recognize.
"They help to inform our product, inform our features and our functionality. They give us the proper language that we should be using in our reporting flows. There’s so much that they offer us. We never want to sacrifice that…”
(Jacqueline Boucher, 00:27)
Reciprocity & Mutual Benefit
- Empowering Youth Participants:
- Snap gives young advisors a behind-the-scenes look at how a global tech company operates.
- Participants meet senior Snap executives, gaining unique experiences and sometimes even career advice.
- The relationship is described as mutually beneficial—Snap learns from youth, and youth gain mentorship and insider exposure.
“In turn, we give them some insights as well.”
(Jacqueline Boucher, 00:38)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On Youth Insight:
"We really value the youth voice and we want to hear from them. They help to inform our product, inform our features and our functionality. They give us the proper language that we should be using in our reporting flows."
(Jacqueline Boucher, 00:27)
-
On Mutual Learning:
"They get to look at some of the interworkings of Snap, a multinational company, and they get to meet with senior executives and maybe get some career advice."
(Larry Magid, 00:44)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:00-00:27 – Larry Magid introduces the episode’s theme and his experience with safety advisory councils
- 00:27-00:44 – Jacqueline Boucher explains why Snap values youth input and outlines the specific contributions of young participants
- 00:44-01:03 – Magid summarizes how youth benefit from the program, including access to executives and industry insight
Summary
This episode underlines a shift from adult-only technology safety governance to models that prioritize youth input. Snap's approach demonstrates a tangible, reciprocal relationship: the company benefits from youth perspectives in creating safer, more intuitive features, while the young advisors gain access, experience, and mentorship from tech leaders. As digital safety continues to evolve, Snap’s program stands out as a model for authentic, two-way engagement between tech companies and their youngest stakeholders.
