On Friday, Snapchat announced that it will now disable the friends-ranking feature in its Snapchat+ subscription product for new users.
This decision comes in response to concerns raised by parents regarding the potential social anxieties it could create.
Why it matters: Snapchat received favorable feedback regarding its “Solar System” feature, highlighting a potential disparity in the perception of online social risks between teenagers and their parents.
According to Snapchat, the company is actively working to resolve the default issue as part of its dedication to ensuring safety and mental wellbeing.
Catch up quick:For users that pay for a Snapchat+ membership, the company’s “Solar System” function has always been optional, but it was previously activated by default.
- The private feature displays the frequency of communication between a user and their buddy. It does this by representing the friend as the sun in a solar system graphic and the user’s avatar on a planet.
- According to Snap, that ranking is not numerical and is not accessible to other friends.
Details:In a recent blog post, Snapchat announced that users can now activate the Solar System feature to gain more friendship insights. Those who don’t, “will never have to witness it.”
- “Snap wrote that they aimed to find a balance that satisfies both the users who desire this feature and those who prefer not to use it.”
- The company mentioned that it developed the feature in response to user feedback, as they expressed a desire to gain more insights into their friendships.
- “Online conversations often lack the same context and social signals found during in-person conversations, and features like the Solar System help provide additional awareness and context,” Snap stated.
Between the lines: In addition, the company’s free offering has a number of tools that aid users in comprehending the dynamics of their online friendships, such as rankings of “Best Friends,” or friends with whom they talk most frequently, and “Streaks,” which monitor the consistency of communication between Snapchat pals.
In order to allay parent worries about the features’ workings, which Snap claimed may be the cause of confusion, it explained how those features operate in a blog post.
The big picture: Snap contends that elements designed to highlight the closeness of friends on the internet make the dynamics of online conversations feel more like those of real-world conversations.
A few of such elements, such as streaks, also contribute to the platform’s gamification, which promotes regular use.
Friends-ranking tools and lists are kept private on purpose, according to Snap, “so that Snapchat doesn’t feel like a public popularity contest.”
