Having a small best friends list on Snapchat of just 3 people can be useful if you want to limit who can see your most frequent interactions. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to reduce your Snapchat best friends list down to 3 friends.
What are Snapchat best friends?
Snapchat’s best friends feature shows you your top 3 friends that you interact with the most on Snapchat. It is displayed publicly on your profile so anyone can see who you snap with the most.
Your best friends are calculated based on how frequently you snap, chat, react to stories, and view stories from each friend over the last 7 days. The more you interact with a friend, the higher up they will appear in your best friends list.
The best friends algorithm is weighted, so snaps and chats are worth more points than just viewing a story. Sending chat messages also counts more than just snapping back and forth.
Why reduce your best friends to 3?
Here are some reasons you may want to limit your Snapchat best friends list to just 3 people:
- Privacy – Only show your closest friends rather than all your frequent contacts.
- Avoid looking flirty if you chat one person a lot.
- Stop exes or random people appearing in your top friends.
- Reduce best friends competition or jealousy amongst friends.
Having 3 best friends gives you greater control over who appears at the top of your profile. You can choose to only showcase your very closest friends or significant other.
How to get a best friends list of 3 on Snapchat
Reducing your Snapchat best friends down to 3 people takes some strategic planning. Here is a step-by-step guide to minimizing your best friends list:
- Check your current best friends order – Go to your profile and note your top 8 best friends in order from 1 to 8.
- Stop snapping your bottom 5 friends – Avoid opening snaps, chatting, reacting to stories or viewing the stories of your 5 lowest best friends for the next 7 days.
- Wait 7 days – Your best friends order is calculated over a 7 day period, so you need to wait a full week for changes to take effect.
- Double your interactions with top 3 friends – Focus on snapping, chatting and engaging with your 1st, 2nd and 3rd top best friends. React to their stories multiple times and send chat messages daily.
- Check your new best friends order – After 7 days your top 3 best friends should now be cemented as your 3 closest friends.
- Maintain your top 3 – Keep interacting with your top 3 at least twice as much as anyone else to maintain the order. The best friends algorithm is weighted so you need to significantly favor your top 3.
With this method you should be able to get a consistent best friends list of just your top 3 friends. It requires cutting contact with the others for a period of time and then focusing your Snapchat interactions on just your inner circle.
What counts towards your best friends score?
To keep your list minimized it helps to understand exactly how Snapchat calculates your best friends order. These actions affect your score:
- Snaps sent and received – Regular back and forth snapping will quickly boost a friend up your list.
- Chat messages – Chatting weighs more than snaps, so daily conversations keep friends on top.
- Reacting to Stories– Reacting frequently to a friend’s story helps increase their score.
- Viewing Stories – Just viewing stories doesn’t boost the score much, but it does help.
- Memories and Group Chats – Interacting in memories and groups also contributes to the algorithm.
So to keep your top 3 friends at the top, make sure you are regularly snapping, chatting, reacting and viewing their stories above anyone else. One on one chats are ideal to cement your number 1 best friend.
Troubleshooting problems with 3 best friends
Here are some common problems that can happen trying to maintain just 3 best friends, and how to fix them:
Someone else keeps popping up
If another friend keeps displacing your top 3, you likely need to increase your interactions with your desired 3 friends. Be sure to chat and send snaps daily, not just view stories. Chatting and reactions impact the algorithm more than just viewing.
The order of your top 3 changed
Don’t panic if your 1st and 2nd best friend swap places occasionally. The algorithm is weighted on recent activity, so your interactions likely changed for a short period. Just focus on keeping your chat and reactions with your intended #1 best friend higher and they will return to the top spot.
You have two top #1 best friends
If two people tie for the #1 best friend spot, you’ll need to favor one over the other for a few days to reset the order. Concentrate your chats and reactions on just one top friend for 3-4 days before returning to normal.
You chat someone briefly and they jump into the top 3
Even a short chat can shoot someone higher in your list since messaging has a high weighting. But this is temporary. Simply avoid engaging them again and continue chatting your main top 3 friends and the order will correct within 3-4 days.
What if you want to change your best friends again?
Follow these tips if you ever need to change your best friend list again in the future:
- Note your current top 8 friends order first
- Avoid all contact with friends you want to remove for 7 days
- Double your interactions with your new desired top 3
- The updated order should solidify within 7 days
You have to again be very methodical about who you engage with while the algorithm recalculates. But within a week you can change your top friends list to showcase any 3 people you want.
Conclusion
Having just 3 best friends on Snapchat takes effort but can be accomplished. Choose your top 3 friends strategically, cut contact with others for a week, then focus your daily Snapchat interactions on just your inner circle.
Chat and reactions have the most impact for boosting friends to the top of your list. Stay consistent in your engagement with your top 3 friends and the order should stick after the algorithm recalculates.
With some planning you can control your best friends list. Just be patient as it takes 7 days for changes to take effect. But soon your profile will reflect just your closest 3 friends on Snapchat.