There are a few potential reasons why you may have gotten a Snapchat notification that someone added to their story even if you don’t follow them on Snapchat. Here are some of the most common explanations:
You Have a Snapchat Friend Connection
If you have the Snapchat user added as a friend, you will get notified when they add to their story even if you don’t actively follow their story. So if you’ve ever added the person on Snapchat but then unsubscribed from their stories, you’ll still get notifications when they post new stories.
Snapchat allows you to add friends through finding their username, getting their Snapcode, or by phone number if you have them in your contacts. Once someone is on your Friends list, Snapchat will automatically send you notifications when they post to their story regardless of whether you watch their stories or not.
So if you have this person added as a friend for any reason, Snapchat will continue to send you story notifications even if you don’t view their stories. The only way to stop getting their story notifications is to remove them as a friend.
You Viewed Their Profile Recently
Another possibility is that you recently viewed this person’s Snapchat profile. When you look at someone’s profile on Snapchat, even if you aren’t friends, the app will start sending you notifications for a short period of time when they add stories.
For example, say you came across someone’s Snapchat username on another social media platform like Instagram or Twitter. You were curious so you searched their username on Snapchat and looked at their profile. Snapchat may now send you notifications temporarily when that user adds to their story, even though you don’t actually follow them.
This allows Snapchat to show you story updates from accounts you may be interested in or have shown interest in, even if you aren’t friends. The notifications generally go away after a short time if you don’t actually add the person as a friend.
You Have Lots of Mutual Friends
Snapchat also factors in your mutual friend connections when determining which stories to notify you about. If you have several friends in common with someone on Snapchat, their stories are more likely to show up in your feed and notifications.
This is Snapchat’s way of trying to show you story updates you may be interested in based on the social graph they have built. So if you have 5 or more mutual friends with someone, Snapchat may push their stories into your notifications feed even if you don’t actively follow them.
Their Content Went Viral
Viral stories on Snapchat also get pushed out widely to notify people, even if you have no connection to that user. For example, if someone posts Snapchat stories that get screenshotted and shared by many viewers, Snapchat will push the story out to a broader audience to capitalize on the viral interest.
So you may get notified about a wildly popular story or lens even if you have no friends in common or other connection. Snapchat figures you may want to see the content since it is going viral, so they add it to your notifications.
You Interacted With Their Content Before
Snapchat also remembers your interactions with other accounts. If you’ve ever viewed, screenshotted, or otherwise engaged with someone’s story in the past, Snapchat may continue showing you their updates even if you haven’t added them as a friend.
The app tracks story engagement across accounts and will factor that into which notifications to push out. So if you interacted with the user’s story weeks or months ago, Snapchat may continue including their updates in your notifications based on that history.
Their Account is Verified
Snapchat also gives priority notifications to accounts that are verified. Verified accounts have a special emoji icon next to their username. This includes celebrities, brands, influencers and public figures.
Even if you don’t follow or interact with verified accounts, Snapchat will push their story notifications to you proactively. This helps increase visibility for these popular accounts and capitalize on fan interest.
You Signed Up for Updates
Some Snapchat accounts allow you to subscribe to receive notifications about their stories even if you aren’t friends. This is common for celebrity, brand and influencer accounts.
If you ever requested to receive updates about a specific account, you will get notifications when they post new stories. You likely have to manually unsubscribe from updates for that account to stop getting the notifications.
Their Content is Promoted
Snapchat allows accounts to pay to promote their stories and lenses. Promoted content gets shown to a wider audience beyond just that user’s friends and followers.
If you got a notification about a story you have no connection with, it’s likely their story is being promoted. Snapchat shows promoted content to people who may be interested even if they don’t actively follow that account.
Account Privacy Settings
Some users have their account privacy set to “Everyone” which makes their stories visible to all Snapchatters. If someone has this setting enabled, their stories can appear in your feed even if you have no connections.
You may get notifications when one of these accounts posts stories since their content is open to the entire Snapchat audience. The only way to stop getting notifications is to block the account.
Your Notification Settings
It’s also possible your own notification settings are contributing to getting updates from accounts you don’t interact with. Here are some settings that may be broadening your notifications:
- Subscriptions – If you have “All Stories” turned on, you’ll get updates from every account.
- Discover – Turning this on gives notifications from Discover publishers.
- Buzz – This expands notifications beyond just friends.
- Other – Settings like amber alerts and campus stories can increase notifications.
Check your notification settings and turn off any categories you don’t want to limit story updates only to friends. You can also mute specific accounts.
Snapchat Glitches
Lastly, it’s possible it’s just a minor glitch. Snapchat has over 600 million daily active users, so issues can come up. An account may get incorrectly linked to your profile or a notification might get pushed incorrectly.
If it only happens once or twice, it may just be a minor technical hiccup. If the notifications persist, it’s likely one of the other factors at play.
Conclusion
In summary, the main reasons you may get Snapchat story notifications from someone you don’t follow include:
- Having them added as a Snapchat friend
- Viewing their profile recently
- Having mutual friends
- Their content went viral
- You previously interacted with their content
- They have a verified account
- You signed up for their updates
- Their content is promoted
- Their account is public
- Your notification settings
- Minor technical glitches
Check your friend list, notification settings, and account privacy if the notifications persist and you want to stop them. In most cases you can identify a connection between your account and the user posting stories to get to the bottom of why you’re being notified.
| Reason | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Friend Connection | Get notifications if added as a Snapchat friend |
| Viewed Profile | Viewing someone’s profile triggers temporary notifications |
| Mutual Friends | Having several friends in common may show their stories |
| Viral Content | Popular stories get pushed out broadly |
| Past Interactions | Snapchat remembers your story engagement |
| Verified Account | Celebrity & influencer stories promoted |
| Signed Up for Updates | Subscribing to a specific account for notifications |
| Promoted Content | Paid ads reach beyond followers |
| Public Account | “Everyone” privacy makes stories visible to all |
| Notification Settings | Broad subscription and discover settings |
| Technical Glitches | Minor bugs with high userbase |
In conclusion, Snapchat story notifications appear for many reasons beyond just actively following or being friends with someone. Checking your settings, friend connections, past interactions, and account privacy can help narrow down exactly why you’re being notified.