Snapchat’s algorithm for calculating best friends is not publicly known, but there are some key factors that likely contribute to the ranking. Best friends on Snapchat are the people you interact with the most, meaning you send snaps, chat, react to stories, etc. more frequently with them compared to other friends.
What criteria does Snapchat use to determine best friends?
Some of the main criteria Snapchat likely uses to determine best friends include:
- Snap frequency – How often you send snaps back and forth with a friend. The more snaps sent, the higher the best friend score.
- Chat frequency – How often you chat with a friend through text, audio notes, video notes, etc. Frequent chats raise the best friend score.
- Snap response rate – How often you open and view snaps from a friend. Quickly opening snaps helps boost your best friend score.
- Snap recap score – Your year-end snap recap highlights your top 3 best friends. The higher up a friend is on your snap recap likely correlates to a higher best friend score.
- Days snapped streak – The number of consecutive days you’ve snapped with a friend. Longer streaks signal a close friendship and raise the best friend score.
So in summary, Snapchat tracks your snap activity across these types of engagement metrics to determine who your closest friends are on the app. It’s essentially calculating who you interact with most frequently and regularly on Snapchat when assigning your best friends.
How is the best friends order determined?
Your number 1 best friend on Snapchat is the person you have the highest score with across all the activity metrics mentioned above. This person is the friend you engage with the most on the app.
The #2 best friend has the second highest score, the #3 best friend has the third highest score, and so on. So the order of your best friends list is ranked based on each friend’s overall score calculated from your Snapchat activity.
If two friends have similar scores, their order may switch around occasionally when Snapchat recalculates the rankings. But in general, the scoring is accurate in highlighting the friends you interact with the most on Snapchat.
How often does the best friends order update?
Snapchat does not reveal exactly how often they recalculate best friend scores. However, the rankings appear to update every 1-2 weeks based on changes in your snap activity over the previous weeks.
Significant changes in how often you snap different friends will be reflected in the next best friends update. But minor fluctuations likely won’t immediately change the order.
Can you have more than 8 best friends?
Yes, you can have more than 8 best friends on Snapchat, but only your top 8 are shown in the best friends list. Snapchat likely tracks a best friend score for all your friends, but simply displays the top 8.
So you may interact quite often with your 9th and 10th best friends, but they just miss the cut off for the visible list. If your activity increases with them and decreases with a current top 8 friend, the order would then adjust at the next update.
Does sending chats raise your best friend score?
Yes, frequently chatting with a friend on Snapchat does raise your best friend score with them. While snaps and stories are Snapchat’s main features, chat activity is also analyzed when calculating your top friends.
Chatting often with a friend shows you have a close, regular conversation, so Snapchat incorporates chat frequency and length into the scoring algorithm. More chats = higher best friend score.
Do video/audio calls impact your best friends order?
Snapchat added the ability to make video and audio calls in 2020. These calls likely influence who Snapchat ranks as your best friends.
Making frequent calls with a friend demonstrates you have meaningful conversations outside of just snaps and chats. So regular calls, especially long ones, can boost a friend up the best friend order by raising their overall score.
Can you have a best friend with a low snapstreak?
It’s possible but unlikely. Snapstreaks are a key factor in Snapchat’s algorithm, so a best friend usually has a high streak.
However, if you interact in other ways like frequent long chats or calls, the high volume could outweigh a low streak and still boost the best friend score. But typically long streaks correlate to top best friends.
Do Snap Games impact your best friend score?
Snapchat introduced Snap Games in 2019. Playing games with friends might influence the best friend order in a couple ways:
- Frequency – Playing often with a friend shows consistent interaction.
- Length – Long game sessions signal engaged communication.
So overall, games provide another way to interact that Snapchat may incorporate into the algorithm. More games with a friend can improve their best friend score.
Does someone’s snap response time affect their best friend rating?
How quickly a friend opens your snaps likely impacts their best friend score. Fast responses show engagement and interest in communicating, which Snapchat wants to encourage.
Some ways response time may be factored in:
- Overall average response time
- Percentage of snaps opened within certain time frame (e.g. 10 minutes)
- Frequency of immediate snap replies
Faster snap response rates signal a great friend for boosting your best friend score.
Can you have a best friend you don’t actually talk to much?
It’s highly unlikely you would have a best friend in your top 8 that you don’t regularly talk to or snap. A low amount of communication would lead to a very low score for that friend in Snapchat’s algorithm.
Someone may briefly appear in your best friends if you had a short period of frequent snaps, but the order should adjust quickly if you stop engaging at a high rate.
The best friend section is designed to capture actual close friends, not just people you added but rarely interact with. If there is someone inaccurate showing as a top friend, your behavior patterns with them will soon correct it.
How quickly can your best friends change?
The best friend order can change faster or slower depending on how drastically your interactions with different friends change.
Here are some examples of how quickly order can shift:
- New friend – A new friend skyrockets up the list after just 1-2 weeks of very frequent snaps.
- Increased chats – More regular chats with a friend boosts them up within 1-2 ranking updates.
- Ended streak – A top best friend drops after you stop snapping for just a few days, breaking a long streak.
- Change behaviors – Sending fewer snaps overall to one friend could knock them down the list over 2-3 updates as others pass them.
So the algorithm is fairly responsive to changes in snap activity patterns, with shifts in the order happening gradually over a few weeks.
Can you purposefully increase your best friend score with someone?
Yes, you can intentionally boost your interactions with a friend to try to increase their best friend rating, but it requires consistency.
A few ways to potentially move someone up the list:
- Snap them daily to start or maintain a streak
- Send snaps back and forth multiple times a day
- Start replying quickly to their snaps
- Chat with them more through long text conversations
- Call them regularly through Snapchat video/audio calls
The key is keeping up an increased pace of engagement over time, not just temporary bursts. Sustained activity is what the algorithm looks for in identifying truly close friends.
How long do you need to be friends before you show up in best friends?
There is no set time limit for how long you need to be friends with someone before they can appear in your best friends. It is purely based on your snap communication patterns.
You could add someone new and they could show up in your top 8 within their first 1-2 weeks if you immediately start snapping them very frequently. Or it may take months with other friends depending on your interactions.
The algorithm cares about your current activity, not how long you’ve known the person. New friends are treated no differently from those you’ve added for years.
Can someone with a private account or no Bitmoji appear in your best friends?
Yes, having a private account or no Bitmoji set up does not prevent a friend from appearing in your best friends list. These factors do not affect the scoring.
The algorithm simply analyzes your communication patterns – it doesn’t care if the friend has a customized or private profile. Their privacy settings won’t stop them from becoming a top best friend if your interactions merit it.
Can you have local friends as best friends?
Snapchat’s Best Friends feature is based solely on your communication patterns, so whether a friend is local or long-distance does not matter. Both can appear equally in your top 8.
For long-distance best friends, your interactions are likely mostly digital through snaps, chats, videos, etc. rather than in-person meetups. But high digital engagement is still picked up the same way in Snapchat’s algorithm.
So physical location does not impact your best friend order – you can have local BFFs, long-distance BFFs, or a mix.
Conclusion
Snapchat’s best friends algorithm is not an exact science, but is estimated to factor in criteria like snap frequency, chat patterns, response time, and streaks. It aims to identify the friends you interact with most regularly on Snapchat.
The best friend order updates periodically based on your recent activity and engagement with different friends. While you can’t directly control the algorithm, sustaining increased interactions can help boost a friend up your list. But in general, Snapchat is effective in highlighting your true closest friends within the app.