Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among younger users. One of the app’s key features is that photos, videos, and messages sent between friends on Snapchat disappear after being viewed. This creates a sense of privacy and intimacy when using Snapchat to communicate with friends and family.
However, one question that often comes up is whether non-friends can get notifications if you view their Snapchat stories or send them snaps. The short answer is no – Snapchat does not notify people who are not your friends on the app when you view their stories or send them snaps. Here is a more detailed look at how Snapchat notifications work for non-friends.
Viewing Non-Friends’ Stories
When you view someone’s Snapchat story who is not your friend on the app, they will not get a notification informing them that you viewed their story. This applies to both public stories and private stories.
Public stories are visible to everyone on Snapchat. Private stories are only visible to the creator’s friends. But in both cases, non-friends can view stories without the creator being notified. Snapchat intentionally designed it this way to encourage comfortable viewing among acquaintances and strangers.
So if you want to check out someone’s story who you don’t know very well, you can do so without worrying about them knowing you viewed their content. This allows you to get to know other Snapchat users in a low-pressure way.
Sending Messages to Non-Friends
What about if you want to start a conversation with someone new on Snapchat by sending them a snap? In this case, the recipient will be notified that they received a snap from you, even if they don’t have you added as a friend.
When you send a photo or video snap to someone who is not your Snapchat friend, they will see a preview of the snap on their Chat screen. This preview will include your name and Bitmoji if you have one linked to your account. It functions similarly to getting a new message notification from a non-contact on other messaging platforms.
Tapping on the snap preview will allow the recipient to view the full snap and potentially add you as a friend so you can continue chatting. So while non-friends won’t get notifications about story views, sending a snap is a way to initiate contact and introduce yourself.
Adding Friends After Interacting
If you meet someone new and want to view their Snapchat story or send them a snap to say hi, what happens after that interaction depends on whether they decide to add you as a friend.
If the recipient does add you back, you will gain access to view their private storiesmoving forward. You will also be able to see new friend notifications when this person views your stories or sends you snaps. Essentially, adding each other back opens up the features of Snapchat friendship.
However, if the recipient ignores your snap or doesn’t add you back, the interaction ends there. They will not get notifications about your subsequent story views or snaps. And you won’t see notifications about their activity either.
Notification Settings
Snapchat does allow users to customize certain notification settings that could impact non-friend interactions. For example:
- You can turn off the ability for non-friends to send you snaps entirely.
- You can prevent your public story from being visible to anyone except friends.
- You can disable notifications about new story views from friends but keep other notifications on.
Adjusting these settings can provide more control over who can contact you or view your content on Snapchat. But by default, Snapchat keeps non-friend interactions fairly open and notification-free in the beginning.
Using Snapchat for Business
For businesses using Snapchat, notifications work a bit differently when interacting with customers or followers who don’t have a personal friendship on the app.
When a business account views someone’s public or private story, that person will not get a notification even if they don’t follow the business back. But if a business sends someone a snap who isn’t a follower, that person will get a preview of the snap as they would with a personal account.
For followers of business accounts, it works the other way around. Any snaps the business sends will trigger notifications. And followers can see if the business views their public story but not their private story.
Understanding these nuances can help brands effectively use Snapchat to connect with new audiences and engage existing followers without overstepping boundaries.
Conclusion
Snapchat provides a unique way to explore content from those outside your immediate social circles without awkwardness. While friends get notifications about viewing stories and exchanging snaps, non-friends and strangers remains mostly anonymous.
This allows Snapchat users to peek into other people’s lives in a pressure-free way. But if both parties decide to add each other as friends, it opens up a two-way communication channel complete with notifications. Overall, Snapchat has found an interesting balance between privacy and openness when it comes to interactions between non-friends.