Understanding Mutual Friends on Snapchat
Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 293 million daily active users. Part of what makes Snapchat so engaging is its focus on real relationships. Seeing mutual friends on the app can help you connect deeper with people in your social circles.
What are Mutual Friends?
Mutual friends refers to people who are friends with both you and another user on Snapchat. For example, if John and Jane are friends, and you are also friends with John and Jane, then you and John have Jane as a mutual friend.
Essentially, a mutual friend is someone in both of your Snapchat networks. Finding these connections allows you to see who you have in common and helps expand your social reach.
How Snapchat Determines Mutual Friends
Snapchat uses your friends list to identify mutual friends between users. Here is a quick breakdown:
- When User A adds User B as a friend, User B is added to User A‘s friend list
- If User C is already on both User A and User B‘s friend lists, then User C is a mutual friend
- The number of mutual friends is displayed when User A views User B‘s profile or username under Quick Add
So Snapchat scans your individual friends lists, compares them, and then shows the number of friends you have in common with someone.
The more friends someone has in common with you, the more likely you may know them in real life. But remember – just because you have mutual connections does not necessarily mean you know that person. Always use caution when interacting with new people online.
Viewing mutual friends on Snapchat only takes a few taps. Follow these simple steps:
1. Open Your Profile
Tap on your Bitmoji or profile icon in the top left corner of the Snapchat app. This will bring you to your profile screen.
2. Select "Add Friends"
Scroll down on your profile and select the "Add Friends" option. This will open up Snapchat‘s friend suggestion page.
3. Check for Mutual Friends Labels
Under the Quick Add tab, you will see a list of recommended friends. If you have any mutual connections, you will see "# mutual friends" written below their username.
The number indicates how many friends you currently share with that user. Tap into each profile to view those mutual connections.
4. Browse the "Added Me" Section
You can also find mutual friends by scrolling down to the bottom of the Add Friends page and selecting “Added Me.” This section shows Snapchatters who have added you back. Odds are, these are people in your extended social circles.
And there you have it! With Snapchat’s friend suggestion algorithm, finding mutual friends is quick and simple.
Seeing mutual connections on Snapchat provides a unique opportunity to grow your network. When leveraged appropriately, Snapchat’s friend suggestion engine allows for organic expansion of your social circles.
Here are some best practices for networking with mutual friends on Snapchat:
Review Profiles Thoroughly Before Adding
While mutual friends indicates some form of shared connection, always review a user’s profile, Bitmoji, username, and content before sending a friend request. This gives better context into who they are.
Chat With Mutual Connections
If you want to learn more about someone with mutual friends before adding them, reach out to your connections that you have in common. Ask how they know that person or what they are like. This provides the backstory needed to determine if you want to add them.
Personalize Friend Requests
When sending friend requests, customize them by saying who you know in common or what interests you share. This makes the request more genuine. Take the time to build real connections.
Interact Regularly With Your Mutuals List
Once you’ve added mutual friends, engage with them often by reacting to their content, sending chat messages, or posting stories tagging them. Keep your Snapstreaks going and elevate your friendships!
Finding mutuals is meant to enhance your real-life social circles online. So focus on quality over quantity when leveraging these tool.
As you connect with new friends on Snapchat, it’s important to customize your privacy settings accordingly. This allows you to control who sees what content.
Here’s how to update settings around mutual friends:
Who Can View Your Story
Snapchat stories are 24-hour image and video messages. By default, either “My Friends” or “Everyone” can access your story depending on your account.
To change this:
- Go to your profile
- Tap the gear icon
- Select “View My Story”
- Choose “My Friends”, “Everyone”, or customized selections
This lets you hide your story from specific people – even mutual friends.
Who Can See Your Location
The Snap Map lets you share your real-time location with friends. To alter who views your location:
- Go to your profile
- Tap the gear icon
- Scroll down and select “Who Can See My Location”
- Choose “Only Me” or “My Friends”
Disable location sharing or limit it to your closest friends that you completely trust. This prevents unwanted access.
Who Can Contact Me
By default, Snapchat lets anyone send you Snaps or Chats. To limit contact to just friends:
- Go to your profile
- Tap the gear icon
- Scroll down and select “Who Can Contact Me”
- Choose “My Friends”
With this activated, only friends you add can reach out directly. Restricting contact access helps avoid unwanted attention.
While mutual friends provide a starting point, there are plenty of other ways to connect on Snapchat as well:
Quick Add Suggestions
Even without mutual friends labeled, scroll through Snapchat’s Quick Add suggestions to uncover new friend potentials based on shared interests, locations, contacts in your device and more.
Username Search
If you know someone’s specific Snapchat username, enter it manually in Add Friends to send them a friend request. This works for connecting with celebrities, brands, influences and more on Snapchat.
Snapcode Scans
Every Snapchatter has a unique Snapcode that serves as their digital identity. When you physically meet someone, scan their Snapcode in Add Friends to immediately add them. Snapcodes bridge in-person meetings with online connections.
Contact Imports
Sync your Snapchat contacts with your phone’s existing contacts that have Snapchat linked. This makes finding family, childhood friends and coworkers even easier directly through Add Friends.
Once connected with friends – mutual or otherwise – take advantage of Snapchat’s robust social features to enrich your relationships further:
Snapchat Stories
Post ephemeral images and videos viewable for 24 hours to your Snapchat Story. Stories showcase daily adventures and events for all your friends.
Snapchat Spotlight
Spotlight is Snapchat’s public content feed showing the most entertaining Snaps from the community. Post here and grow your following.
Lenses & Filters
Augment selfies, videos and Snaps with Lenses and Filters. These enhance visuals with overlays ranging from curated songs to augmented reality effects.
Location Emojis
Pin custom emojis unique to destinations across the world. When you and friends share Location Emojis, it creates a sense of shared experience and inside jokes.
Reactions
Swipe Up on Camera Snaps and Stories to send Reactions expressing your emotions. Reactions keep engagements lively with friends and mutuals.
Chat & Video Chat
Of course, Snapchat also supports direct messaging via text, video and audio with all friends. Nurture your bonds through quick conversations.
Snap Map Integration
Let friends view your real-time location on a map via Snap Map. Location sharing builds deeper trust and enables spontaneous meetups.
Group Chats
Group Chats allow messaging between multiple Snapchatters at once. Build group narratives with mutual friends and beyond through collective chats.
Stories Shoutouts
Shoutout friends directly on your Stories via Mentions to highlight meaningful narratives together. Nothing is better than bonding through co-storytelling.
As you connect with mutuals and make new friends alike, these creative tools boost your social experience exponentially.
To uncover even more friend suggestions, connect your Snapchat account to other social networks:
Facebook Friend Integration
Find Facebook friends who also have Snapchat by linking accounts under Settings > Connections > Facebook. This imports existing connections.
Instagram Follower Integration
Similarly, connect Snapchat to Instagram under Settings > Connections > Instagram to convert IG followers into SC friends with ease.
Bitmoji Linking
For animated avatar personalization, connect your Bitmoji account to Snapchat under Settings > Connections > Bitmoji. Then use your digital doppelganger across Snapchat UI.
TikTok Profile Linking
Sync your TikTok account with Snapchat under Settings > Connections > TikTok. Then share TikTok videos natively to Snapchat Stories. Cross-post for amplified reach.
When used strategically, connecting other social platforms to Snapchat maximizes friend finds and follower conversions.
For a data-driven approach, explore Snapchat Insights to guide your growth. Insights showcase metrics around:
- Stories Views
- Snaps Created
- Chat Times
- Overall Activity
Digest these learnings to determine who your most engaged friends are – mutuals included. Learn how people consume and interact with your content specifically.
These datapoints inform you where to focus relationship building efforts online. Play to your strengths while also finding areas needing improvement.
Numbers don’t lie. Let the Insights give clarity and direction moving forward with mutual friends.
Finding mutual friends allows you to connect authentically on Snapchat. While leveraging social algorithms opens discovery pathways, always prioritize personal connections first.
Some core pointers around mutual friends:
- Mutual friends indicate shared connections between users based on overlapping friend networks.
- Quick Add and Added Me show mutual friends under friending suggestions.
- Thoroughly review profiles before sending friend requests.
- Customize privacy around stories, locations and contact accordingly.
- Link Snapchat with other platforms like Facebook and Instagram to uncover more friend potentials.
- Use social features to enrich friendships after adding mutual connections.
Focus on trust, safety and relationship building as the foundations for any interactions stemming from mutual friends. Snapchat is ultimately about bridging real bonds online. Prioritize quality over quantity to get the most from mutual friends.
