Snapchat’s best friends feature allows you to see your closest friends on the app based on how frequently you interact with each other. You can turn off the best friends feature in your app’s settings if you don’t want others to see your best friends or be shown as someone else’s best friend.
What are Snapchat best friends?
Snapchat’s best friends feature shows you your closest friends on the app based on how often you snap each other, view each other’s stories, react to snaps, and chat. You can see your own best friends by going to your profile and swiping down. Up to 8 friends will show up in order from your #1 best friend to your #8 best friend.
Your number one best friend is the person you interact with the most on Snapchat. Interactions include:
- Sending snaps back and forth
- Viewing each other’s stories
- Reacting to snaps with emojis
- Chatting
The more you interact with a friend, the higher up they will appear in your best friends list. Best friends update every week to reflect changes in who you interact with most.
Can you turn off Snapchat best friends?
Yes, it is possible to turn off Snapchat’s best friends feature so that you and others can’t view best friends. Here are the steps to turn off best friends on Snapchat:
- Open the Snapchat app and go to your profile page
- Tap the Settings (gear) icon in the top right corner
- Scroll down and tap “See My Best Friends”
- Toggle the switch off next to “See My Best Friends”
Once you turn off best friends, the best friends section will disappear from your profile and others’ profiles. You can toggle best friends back on at any time by following the same steps.
Why would you turn off best friends on Snapchat?
Here are some common reasons why people choose to turn off Snapchat best friends:
- Privacy – To keep your interactions private from other friends.
- Avoid competition – Some people don’t like the perceived “competition” to be someone’s #1 best friend.
- Hurt feelings – Seeing best friends can cause hurt feelings for those lower on the list.
- Stalkers – Disabling best friends makes it harder for stalkers or acquaintances to monitor who you interact with most.
- Changing friendships – Best friends may not always reflect who your “real life” closest friends are.
- Less pressure – Removes pressure to maintain streaks or frequently interact with some friends.
Even if you disable best friends, you can still see your overall snap streaks with friends on the Snapchat friend list. Turning off best friends simply removes the ranked order based on interactions.
What happens when you turn off best friends?
Here’s what happens when you turn off Snapchat best friends:
- The best friends section disappears from your profile and others’ profiles.
- Friends can no longer see your best friends or their ranking.
- You can’t see any of your friends’ best friends.
- Snapchat continues tracking your interactions in the background.
- Your best friends return if you turn the setting back on.
So best friends are not permanently deleted, they are just hidden from view. Snapchat continues keeping track of your top friends in the background. If you re-enable best friends, the list will repopulate based on your most recent interactions.
What do best friend emojis mean on Snapchat?
In addition to the best friends list, Snapchat also uses special emojis next to certain friends in your main friends list and chat. Here is what the different best friend emoji meanings are:
- Gold heart – Your #1 best friend
- Yellow heart – One of your best friends, but not #1
- Red heart – You have been #1 best friends with this person for two weeks straight
- Pink hearts – You have been #1 best friends with this person for two months straight
- Baby emoji – Your newest friend on Snapchat
These emojis appear next to friends on your chat screen and friend list. Unlike the best friends list, there is no way to disable the emojis. Even if you turn off the best friends feature, Snapchat will continue showing yellow and red hearts next to your frequent friends.
Should you turn off Snapchat best friends?
Whether you should turn off Snapchat’s best friends feature comes down to your personal preferences:
- Keep it on if you enjoy the feature and like seeing your closest Snapchat friends.
- Turn it off if you find it causes unwanted social pressure or drama.
There are reasonable arguments on both sides. Some people find the best friend feature fun and motivating for keeping streaks alive with good friends. Others may feel embarrassed by lower rankings or get annoyed by constantly having to interact to maintain their status.
Don’t feel pressure to keep best friends on if the cons outweigh the pros for you. While turning it off might initially disappoint some friends, it’s perfectly fine to prioritize your own well-being and privacy.
Can you see someone’s best friends without them knowing?
There is no way to secretly view someone else’s Snapchat best friends list without them knowing. If you have best friends turned on, the only people who can see your list are:
- You (in your own profile)
- Friends who also have best friends turned on
Snapchat does not allow you to stealthily view someone’s best friends if they have the setting turned on. Both people in a friendship need to have best friends enabled for the lists to be visible. So you don’t have to worry about someone snooping on your list.
Can you be someones #1 best friend without them being yours?
It is possible to be someone’s #1 best friend on Snapchat without them being your own #1. This imbalance often happens when two people interact at different frequencies.
For example, Person A and Person B are good friends and frequently Snap each other. But Person A also Snaps many other people. Meanwhile Person B only really uses Snapchat to talk to Person A.
In this case, Person A ends up being Person B’s #1 best friend because a high percentage of Person B’s interactions are with Person A. But for Person A, Person B may only end up being #4 or #5 on the list since their snaps are more split among different friends.
Snapchat ranks best friends based on total interactions, not the portion of interactions. So it’s quite common for best friend statuses to not be perfectly mutual. But a fully mutual #1 best friend is seen as the strongest bond on Snapchat.
Conclusion
Snapchat’s best friends feature allows you to see your closest friends based on snap frequency and interactions. While it can be fun, it can also cause unwanted social pressure for some users. You can disable the public best friend list by going into Snapchat’s settings and toggling off “See My Best Friends”. This prevents others from viewing your list while still allowing Snapchat to track best friends in the background.
In the end, do what makes you comfortable. Don’t be afraid to turn off best friends if the feature causes you more stress than enjoyment. Snapchat is meant to help you connect with friends in the way that works best for you.