Snapchat emojis, also called Snapchat Bitmojis, are digital stickers and emoji that appear next to friends’ names on the app. These Snapchat emojis often change daily and appear differently for you than for your friends. There are a few main reasons why your Snapchat emojis may look different from your friends’.
1. Snapchat Emojis are Based on How You Interact with Friends
Snapchat’s friend emojis are based on your interactions, how often you snap each other, view stories, chat, and more. Depending on how frequently you interact with a friend, the emoji next to their name changes. Here is what some of the Snapchat emoji meanings are based on your interactions:
| Snapchat Emoji | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 💛 Yellow Heart | #1 Best Friends – You snap this person the most, and they snap you the most too. This only appears if you’ve been each other’s #1 best friend for two weeks straight. |
| ❤️ Red Heart | #1 Best Friends – You’re this person’s #1 best friend but they are not yours. They snap you the most out of all their friends. |
| 🔥 Fire | Snapstreak – You and this friend have snapped each other within 24 hours for more than 3 consecutive days. |
| 💬 Speech Bubble | Frequently Chatted With – You have frequently sent chat messages back and forth with this friend. |
| 😀 Smiley Face | New Friend – You’ve recently added this friend. |
| 🚀 Rocket Ship | Snapstreak About to Expire – Your snapstreak is going to end soon if you don’t snap this friend. |
As you can see, the emojis represent your unique interactions and relationships with each friend. That’s why they often appear differently for you and your friends.
2. Snapchat Considers Your Overall Interactions
Snapchat doesn’t just look at your snaps sent back and forth. It considers your overall communication and interaction patterns with friends. This includes:
- Snaps sent to each other
- Chats sent in the app
- Views and interactions with Stories
- Use of Filters and Lenses together
- Saved Snaps and Chats
Snapchat looks at this full history of communication between you and all your friends. It then assigns emojis accordingly. So even if you and a friend don’t directly Snap each other much, frequent chatting and Story views can still earn emojis.
3. The Algorithms are Personalized
Snapchat’s algorithms that determine the friend emojis are highly personalized for each user. Two friends will see different emojis for each other based on their unique patterns of use. Snapchat explains it this way:
“The emojis you see are unique to your specific relationships with your friends on Snapchat. The emojis don’t appear the same way for your friends when they view them on their own Friends screens.”
For example, your #1 Best Friend emoji appears next to the friend you snap with the most. But for them, their #1 Best Friend emoji will appear next to someone else if they snap with someone more frequently.
4. Snapchat Frequently Updates the Algorithms
Snapchat is constantly tweaking and updating the algorithms that determine Snapchat emojis. They want the emojis to best reflect your current relationships and interactions.
So every month or two, Snapchat makes subtle changes to how emojis are calculated. This means the meaning of each emoji is dynamic – it changes over time based on Snapchat’s evolving algorithms.
Snapchat does this to keep the emojis relevant. But it means who gets which emoji is always changing in small ways, which also makes your emoji look different from friends.
5. Your Activity Patterns Change Over Time
Along with Snapchat changing its algorithms, your own Snapchat behavior also changes over time. Who you interact with, how often, and on what channels fluctuates as your relationships and friendships evolve.
For example, maybe you used to chat with one friend all the time, earning a frequent Chat emoji. But now you’ve started chatting more with a different friend. The algorithm picks up on this activity change and will start showing that emoji by the other friend instead.
As your activity patterns change, the emojis change. Since each friend’s activity with you is unique, this also makes the emojis you see vary from what friends see.
6. Emojis Appear Differently Across Platforms
Snapchat’s apps and platforms show emojis slightly differently in some cases. The iOS app may show an emoji in a slightly different style than Android, for example. Or emojis can differ on iOS vs the web app.
Most emojis appear the same across platforms. But subtle design differences can make them seem like they don’t match up between friends using different devices or apps.
Conclusion
Snapchat friend emojis or Bitmojis are designed to be personalized based on your unique interactions and relationships. They appear differently for you than friends because Snapchat’s algorithms are highly personalized. Snapchat also frequently tweaks these algorithms so emoji meanings evolve over time.
As you can see, there are a variety of reasons why Snapchat emojis may appear differently than expected. But the main point is that each user sees emojis tailored specifically to their own patterns of use and communication with friends.
The emojis are meant to be a fun way to visualize the nuances of your friendships! Don’t read into them too much or get caught up comparing with friends. Just enjoy the mini pictures that represent your unique connections on Snapchat.
Some Additional Facts About Snapchat Friend Emojis:
- Snapchat first introduced Friend Emojis in late 2015
- The emojis update on the app several times throughout the day as your interactions change
- There are over 12 different friend emojis that can appear
- Changing your display name on Snapchat can also update the emoji that appears by your name for friends
- Verified accounts on Snapchat (like celebrities) get a special verified emoji icon
- Studios creating Snapchat shows get special emojis tied to their specific show
- Your Bitmoji avatar will appear as the emoji icon if you have it linked
- Snapchat occasionally adds or removes certain friend emojis
- The emoji algorithms are tuned to better detect best friends and frequent interactions
Some Tips For Changing Your Snapchat Friend Emojis:
- Snap your best friends frequently to get the yellow Best Friend Heart emoji
- Send chat messages regularly with friends to possibly earn the Chat emoji
- Be sure to view friends’ Stories often if you want the emoji to reflect that
- Maintain your Snapstreaks by exchanging Snaps within 24 hours to keep the Fire emoji
- Send saved Snaps and Chats to friends who you want to interact with more
- Don’t worry too much about having matching emojis with friends
- Check the emoji meanings table if you forget what each one represents
- Remember that your activity patterns influence what emojis appear