there have been a lot of articles online lately about the exodus of teens from facebook. interview after interview, more and more teenagers are citing the fact that their parents and even grandparents are on the same social network making the service uncool. who wants nana knowing about your crazy night out?

then you look at the popularity of snapchat—the ‘here today, gone 15 seconds from now’ picture messaging app created by a couple of 20-something stanford university drop-outs who stand to make billions of dollars—and it’s no surprise as to why it’s popular among those very teens who are flocking away from facebook. without a trail left behind, you can do whatever and be whomever you want without the fear of mom and dad watching in.

while there are obvious safety implications to consider, it still raises a very interesting question: in a world increasingly marked by companies and services promoting openness and unfettered sharing of data, is privacy the next killer app?