UK government spends £70,000 on Snapchat filters - CNET

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The UK govement has spent £70,000 (about $100,000 or AU$134,000) on Snapchat filters.

The filter -- which puts prison-style bars over a picture -- wasn't wasted in sending fuy messages between civil servants, however. Images with the filter were used as part of the govement's THINK! public health campaign against driving while under the influence of drugs.

The numbers were revealed in a freedom of information request initiated by BuzzFeed News.

It's good to see the govement embracing new apps and methods of broadcast. If you want to reach a young audience, Snapchat is the place to do it: the messaging app has over 100 million daily users, many of whom are hard-to-reach milleials.

If you're not permanently creeped out by the app's face-swapping feature, check out five Snapchat tips every user should know and follow up with four tips to becoming a power user. And don't forget to follow CNET -- we're "cnetsnaps".