What Does the Star on Snapchat Mean? A Complete Guide
Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among young people. Its fun filters, disappearing messages, and Story feature make it perfect for sharing casual moments with friends.
But if you’re new to Snapchat, some of the features can be confusing at first glance. One common question is: what does the star icon next to a user’s name mean?
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the different Snapchat stars and what they signify.
The Different Types of Stars on Snapchat
There are a few different star icons that can appear on Snapchat, each with its own distinct meaning:
Yellow Star 🔶
A yellow star next to a friend’s name means they are your number one Best Friend on Snapchat for the week.
Your Best Friends list shows the people you snap with the most, ranked in order by how frequently you interact with them. The yellow star highlights your most snapped friend.
Red Star ❤️
A red star indicates someone has been your number one Best Friend on Snapchat for two straight weeks. It upgrades from the yellow star after the second week.
Gold Star ⭐
A gold star signifies someone has replayed or screened your snap in the past 24 hours. It appears next to the name of the person who replayed or screenshotted it.
Baby Star 🌟
A baby star means you just became friends with someone new to Snapchat. It’s the app’s way of highlighting new connections in your network.
What Do the Other Snapchat Emojis Mean?
In addition to stars, Snapchat uses emoji icons to represent relationships between users. Here’s what the other Snapchat emojis indicate about your connections:
Fire Emoji 🔥
The fire emoji next to a friend’s name means you are on a Snapstreak. A Snapstreak occurs when you and a friend have snapped each other within 24 hours for three consecutive days. The number beside the flame tracks how long your streak has lasted.
Hourglass ⌛
An hourglass warns that your Snapstreak with a friend is in danger of ending soon. It means you haven’t snapped in a while and need to send something within 24 hours to keep it alive.
Birthday Cake 🎂
On birthdays, a cake emoji appears next to friends who you have added. Tapping on it allows you to send them a birthday wish straight within Snapchat.
Face Emojis 😎🥳😟
Different facial emojis represent the status of your friendship on Snapchat. For example, the smiling emoji indicates someone is also one of your Best Friends, while the grimacing face means you share a mutual Best Friend.
What Does the Star Mean on a User’s Profile?
In addition to appearing beside friends’ names, stars can also show up on user profiles. Here is what profile stars denote on Snapchat:
Verified Account
Snapchat verifies some public figures, celebrities, artists, and influencers accounts by adding a gold star next to their username. This signals that Snapchat has confirmed they are the authentic creator behind the account.
Snap Star
A gold star can also indicate someone is an elite Snap Star. Snapchat picks a selection of top creators to feature on its Discover platform. These Snap Stars create special Shows that showcase their content to a wider Snapchat audience.
It’s important to note Snapchat verification is different than the verification programs on other platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Snapchat does not allow users to request verification or pay for it.
What Does “Best Friends” Mean on Snapchat?
The Best Friends feature on Snapchat aims to highlight the people you interact with most intimately. It captures your closest connections on the app.
When you send a snap, Snapchat records the person who receives it. Over time, it calculates which friends you snap back and forth with the most each week. These become your Best Friends.
The Best Friends algorithm is somewhat secretive, but most evidence suggests it works similarly to this:
- Snapchat tracks who you send your snaps to and who sends snaps to you
- Each time you snap a friend, you both gain points towards becoming Best Friends
- At the end of the week, Snapchat ranks everyone by points to reveal your top friends
So if you want someone to appear in your Best Friends, make sure to trade lots of snaps with them!
The more recent and frequent your interactions are, the more likely Snapchat will consider them one of your top people.
Why Does My Snapchat Best Friends Change?
Many Snapchat users notice their Best Friends shuffle around or change every so often.
The main reason for this is Snapchat recalculates your top friends each week. So your interactions always have to be current for someone to stay at the top.
If you don’t snap a Best Friend for awhile, even if they’ve been #1 for months, they’ll likely get replaced by someone else you snap more that week.
The biggest factor for Best Friends is consistency. To keep someone pinned as your #1 top friend, you need to be snapping them constantly each week, not just in spurts.
Can Someone See Your Best Friends on Snapchat?
No, your Snapchat Best Friends are private to you. No one else can see your personal Best Friends list or who appears on it.
Rest assured that Snapchat doesn’t share the order of your BFs with anyone, including the friends themselves.
The only emoji hints your friends might see are the special ones that display next to their own names when they view your profile.
But these are vague — a yellow heart could mean #1, #5, or even #10 on your Best Friends list. So no one else truly knows their rankings.
The Best Friends algorithm is purposefully kept opaque and mysterious to protect privacy. This lets people feel more comfortable interacting intimately without judgment.
What Are Snapchat Scores and How Do They Work?
In addition to stars and emojis, each Snapchatter has a Snapchat score displaying on their profile. This score simply reflects an overall number of snaps you‘ve ever sent or received.
You gain one point for every snap you send, and one point for every snap you receive. Your total score accumulates over your entire time using Snapchat.
Snapchat does not share exactly how scores are calculated. They likely track most snap activity from your main Snap camera, not extras likes Snap Map updates.
High Snapchat scores generally signify someone actively using the app to snap people back and forth. If someone has a score in the millions, that reflects years of heavy usage sending snaps.
While score shows your total Snapchat activity, Best Friends is meant to capture more meaningful intimate connections. You might have a lower score but a tight Best Friend squad you chat with daily.
For example, influencers often have very high Snap scores due to big public followings. But their top Best Friends are likely close personal friends they interact with regularly outside their followers.
Expert Tips to Get More Best Friends on Snapchat
Looking to grow your inner circle on Snapchat? Here are some expert tips:
Snap consistently – Snapping the same people every day, even mundane stuff, is key. Quick snaps say “I’m thinking of you!”
Comment on Stories – Commenting on friends‘ Stories helps you stay top of mind and shows them you‘re paying attention.
Use Snapchat Games – Playing games is an easy way to interact while giving your fingers a break from snapping pictures.
Send to New Friends First – Snap new friends immediately as soon as they add you to start off strong.
Don‘t Stress About Scores – Having an insanely high Snap score isn‘t important. Just snap people because you genuinely want to talk!
Can You Lose Your Snapchat Best Friend Status?
Yes, you can lose your Best Friend status if you stop snapping someone for awhile.
Since Best Friends measures recent interactions, it’s all about consistency. If you go a few weeks without sending Snaps back and forth, your BFF crown will probably get passed to someone else.
But the nice part is that once you start chatting again regularly, they’ll often bounce right back to being your #1 top friend.
Some people do intentional “Best Friend diets” where they cut communication for awhile to give friends a break from the pressure to always respond right away.
Do Snapchat Best Friends Have Benefits?
Beyond bragging rights, are there any real perks to having Snapchat Besties? Consider:
Priority Feed Placement
Many users report snaps from Best Friends tend to show up faster and higher in their feeds. Since Snapchat predicts you want to see posts from your top friends first, it attempts to surface them quicker.
Custom Best Friends Emojis
If you remain #1 Best Friends with someone for a month straight, you‘ll unlock a custom emoji that only the two of you can use in chat. This lets you commemorate especially close bonds on Snapchat.
Shared Private Stories
Best Friends have the option to contribute to shared private Stories visible only to each other. This creates an intimate space to trade snaps visible only to your inner circle.
Map Location Sharing
Your Best Friends list has special privileges in Snapchat Maps. Best Friends can view your exact location if you have that enabled, while other friends will only see general city-level locations.
BFF Profile Rings
When you reach the two month mark with your #1 Bestie, you’ll both score special BFF rings around your profile pictures. This publicly commemorates the strength of your friendship on Snapchat.
Conclusion: Stars Signal Engagement
To summarize, the different star icons in Snapchat reveal various types of engagement between users.
Yellow and red stars indicate who you snap with the most: your Best Friends. Gold stars show who is rewatching and screenshotting your content. And baby stars highlight new connections.
The Best Friends algorithm aims to capture the people most important to you based on your communication patterns. So snap away with good friends if you want to keep each other’s stars shining bright!
