Snapchat Best Friends Is Back, but the Algorithm Is Much Different

Friends. How many of us have them? 

In the social media world, apps are centered around the number of friends or followers you have. That number impacts the content you’re exposed to, how you engage, and, most importantly, how you build connections. One of the biggest perks of Snapchat is the Best Friends feature.

The Best Friends feature on Snapchat was removed in 2015 and creators were upset. And since then, there has been something of a campaign to get the feature back on the app. So, will the Best Friends feature come back? And if so, when can fans expect it? Keep reading for all the tea.

Let’s take it back to 2015 for a minute. Many users believed that Snapchat removed the Best Friends feature from the app. If you’re not privy to the classic feature, it basically allowed users to see who their followers connected with the most. In other words, it felt like a breach of privacy for some users.

Since removing the feature from the app, many have been wondering when it will come back. The biggest argument for most users was that they liked the idea of seeing who they have strong connections with on the app. Others simply liked being able to show if they were Best Friends with a notable user on Snapchat.

While rumors persisted about the feature coming back for a few years, a lot of users believed that it came back. That was all due to a picture that circulated around Twitter that got users excited.

But Snapchat developers know that the success of the app is all about giving people what they want. So, of course, the Best Friends feature eventually came back along with a new design.

One quick scroll on social media will show you that the Best Friends feature is bittersweet for most users. While many users are happy that the feature is back and in full swing, it’s not what it used to be. 

According to Tech Junkie, Snapchat has switched up how they determine your Best Friends from the way it worked back in 2018. Making a full transition from the old algorithm, the new system takes various things into account such as your chat history, the number of times someone sends you snaps, your group chat participation, and more since the inception of your account. 

In fact, Snapchat developers have taken things a step further. The app has a set of emojis that are given to your Best Friends and your list is private. Per the Snapchat Support page, you can as many as eight Best Friends at a time and they are updated on a regular basis with a specific emoji. The double heart emoji is for a best friend for two months in a row. The red heart emoji is given when you’ve been each other’s No. 1 best friend for two weeks in a row. 

The yellow heart is when you send the most snaps to the Snapchatter and vice versa, The blushing smiley face emoji is given when you send a lot of snaps to the user, but they’re not your No. 1 best friend. And from there, other emojis dictate that you have mutual Best Friends and that you're on a streak with your snaps. 

So yes, the Best Friend feature is back, and in the opinion of some Snapchat users, it's better than ever.