The two arrows icon on Snapchat stories indicates that the story is a collaborative story between two friends. When two Snapchat friends are together and they both add snaps to their stories, it will show up as a collaborative story with the two arrows icon.
What do the two arrow icons mean on Snapchat stories?
The two arrow icons on a Snapchat story mean that the story is a collaborative story between two friends. Here are some key things to know about the two arrow icons:
- It indicates that two friends have both contributed snaps to the same story.
- The story will appear with the two arrow icon in both friends’ lists of stories.
- All followers of both friends will be able to view the collaborative story.
- Each friend can add to the story when they are together by posting snaps.
- The story disappears after 24 hours like normal Snapchat stories.
- Friends can start a collaborative story by posting to their stories when together, and it will automatically become a collaborative story.
So in summary, the two arrows simply signify that two friends have combined their snaps into a shared story that appears under both of their names and is visible to all their followers. It allows friends to group their snaps together into one story when hanging out.
How do you start a collaborative Snapchat story?
Starting a collaborative Snapchat story with a friend is easy. Here are the steps:
- Make sure you and your friend are hanging out together in real life.
- Open the Snapchat app and tap on the camera icon to take a snap.
- After taking your snap, go to add it to your story as normal.
- With your friend alongside you, have them also add a snap to their story.
- The snaps will now appear together in a collaborative story marked with the two arrows.
- The story will appear in both your and your friend’s list of stories.
- Continue adding snaps together to the collaborative story whenever you are hanging out.
Essentially, just have both you and your friend post snaps to your stories while together, and Snapchat will automatically combine them into a shared story. The two arrow icon will appear once you both add snaps.
Who can view a collaborative Snapchat story?
The audience who can view a collaborative Snapchat story includes:
- All followers of the first friend who contributed to the story
- All followers of the second friend who contributed to the story
- Anyone else who the story has been shared with via the share function
So the audience is broad and includes the combined followers of both friends posting together. The collaborative story appears in both friends’ lists of stories, so anyone who views either friend’s stories will see the collaboration.
This allows the collaborative story to potentially reach a lot more people than just an individual Snapchat story. It’s a great way to share events and hangouts with more friends if you collaborate with a friend on Snapchat stories.
How long do collaborative Snapchat stories last?
Collaborative Snapchat stories have the same 24 hour expiration as regular Snapchat stories. The story will be available for 24 hours from the time the first snap was added to the story.
After 24 hours, the collaborative story will disappear just like individual Snapchat stories.
Any snaps added to the collaborative story during the 24 hour period will remain visible until the full 24 hours is up.
So unlike regular posts on many social media apps, collaborative Snapchat stories are ephemeral and designed to share glimpses into a moment in time rather than create a permanent post.
Can you collaborate with more than one friend?
Unfortunately, Snapchat currently only allows two friends to collaborate on a story marked with the two arrow icon. If you are in a group, only you and one other friend can contribute snaps to the collaborative story.
While you can individually add the same group snaps to each of your own stories, they won’t show up together under one story like the two friend collaboration does.
So for now, Snapchat is limiting collaborative stories to just two friends at a time. Perhaps in the future they may expand the feature to allow large group collaborations.
Conclusion
The two arrow icon on Snapchat indicates that two friends have teamed up to create a collaborative story featuring both of their snaps together. It allows friends to easily combine their stories when hanging out for a broader shared audience.
To start a collaboration, simply have two friends post snaps to their stories at the same time. The snaps will merge into one story marked with the two arrows. All followers of both friends will be able to view the story for 24 hours.
Collaborative stories offer a fun way to share events and experiences on Snapchat with more friends when you team up with another user. So next time you’re hanging out with a friend, tap into the power of the two arrows to tell bigger stories together on Snapchat!
| Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Two arrows | Indicates a collaborative Snapchat story between two friends |
| Appears in both friends’ stories list | Visible to all followers of both contributing friends |
| Disappears after 24 hours | Like all Snapchat stories, collaborative ones last 24 hours |