Snapchat is a popular social media app that allows users to send photo and video messages that disappear after being viewed. One of Snapchat’s key features is Stories, which allow users to post photos and videos that remain viewable for 24 hours. Many Snapchat users post captivating Stories that keep their friends entertained and updated throughout the day.
While viewing someone’s Snapchat Story can be fun and informative, you cannot subscribe or follow a user in order to consistently view their Stories. Snapchat does not have a subscription or following feature for individual users. So if you want to keep up with a certain person’s Snaps, you’ll need to manually check their profile each day.
Why Doesn’t Snapchat Allow User Subscriptions?
There are a few reasons why Snapchat does not allow users to subscribe to each other’s accounts:
- It wants to maintain an intimate, private feeling. Snapchat was designed for sharing quick, fun moments with close friends rather than broadcasting content to the public. Allowing subscriptions would make it feel more like a public social media platform.
- It incentivizes constant use. By not allowing subscriptions, users have to frequently open Snapchat if they want to catch all of their friends’ updates. This increases overall usage and engagement.
- It emphasizes real relationships. Subscriptions would enable strangers to follow one another. But Snapchat wants to focus on reinforcing real friendships and relationships between users who know each other.
The lack of a subscription option is intentional to maintain Snapchat’s fun, ephemeral, relationship-based experience. While users can’t subscribe to accounts, there are a couple ways to keep up with friends on Snapchat.
How to Keep Up with Someone’s Stories
If you have a friend whose Snapchat Stories you love seeing each day, there are a couple methods you can use to consistently view their content:
- Send them a Snap to start a Snapstreak. A Snapstreak occurs when two friends have snapped each other within 24 hours for more than 3 consecutive days. Snapstreaks are denoted by a little flame icon and tally of days. Maintaining streaks incentivizes friends to snap one another daily.
- Watch their Story first thing. Make it a habit to immediately view their Story whenever you open Snapchat. Their username will be at the top of your Stories feed if they’ve posted within the last 24 hours.
- Turn on notifications. Enable notifications for whenever that friend posts to their Story. This will alert you right away so you don’t miss anything.
- Save their stories. If there’s a Story you really want to preserve, press and hold on the screen while viewing to save it. Saved Stories last indefinitely.
While Snapchat strives to keep content intimate among real friends, there are some public figures and brands that produce compelling Stories. Snapchat does allow users to subscribe to these accounts in two ways:
Official Stories Subscriptions
You can subscribe to content from official publishers like ESPN, Cosmopolitan, Vice, and Vogue through Snapchat’s Discover section. Here’s how to subscribe:
- Tap the Discover icon on the Stories screen.
- Browse through various channels and shows.
- Tap the Subscribe button next to any show or publisher you want to follow.
Your subscriptions will then appear at the top of Discover so you can easily watch their content daily.
Following Celebrities and Influencers
Snapchat verifies accounts of public figures, celebrities, artists, and influencers. Verified accounts have a special emoji next to their username throughout the app. Here’s how to follow them:
- Search for their verified username in the Search bar.
- Tap their profile icon.
- Tap the Follow button to subscribe to their public Story.
Their Stories will then show up alongside your friends’ Stories whenever you open Snapchat.
Other Ways to Get Someone’s Snaps
If you really want to consistently view a specific friend’s Stories without going through Snapchat, there are some unofficial workarounds. However they come with downsides:
| Method | How It Works | Downsides |
|---|---|---|
| Screen recording | Use your phone’s screen recording feature to record their Stories as you view them. You’ll then have a copy to rewatch. |
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| Third-party apps | Apps like Snapper and Snapsave let you download Snapchat Stories. Some even auto-save them. |
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As you can see, the workarounds for consistently viewing someone’s Stories come with risks and disadvantages. Your best options are to stay engaged with that friend on Snapchat organically or follow their public account if they have one.
Conclusion
Snapchat purposely does not allow users to subscribe to each other’s accounts or profiles. The platform wants to maintain an intimate, ephemeral sharing experience among real friends rather than unpaid influencers or celebrities. By avoiding subscriptions, Snapchat incentivizes users to maintain frequent engagement with their actual friends. While you can’t get ongoing access to a friend’s Stories, you can stay updated by exchanging Snaps for a Streak, watching their Stories immediately, turning on notifications, and saving your favorite Snaps. Or if the person is a public figure, you may be able to follow their verified account. But overall, Snapchat is designed for private, in-the-moment sharing between friends who interact regularly.