Snapchat, one of the most popular social media companies used by people of Gen Z, launched a new functionality known as the Friend Solar System that appeared as a part of the extended Snapchat Plus subscription. This aspect makes a big change in how the users would see their best friends because each of the top eight friends is given a planet with the user representing the Sun at the center. Snapchat Planets system has a planet ranking system according to the frequency of interaction with friends, and is the same as what happens in our real solar system.
Today, we are going to discover the order and meaning of Snapchat Planets, the mechanism that works, what is needed to access it and what difference it makes to the engagement of users.
What Are Snapchat Planets?
Launched in 2022, Snapchat Friend Solar System is a paid offering associated only with Snapchat Plus subscribers. It draws a picture of eight of your closest friends as planets revolve around you as the Sun depending on how you engage with them either by exchanging snaps, chat, or views of stories.
The friendlier the planet is to the Sun, the better the friends based on the algorithm of Snapchat, which monitors the higher index of mutual activity such as the exchange of snaps, the frequency of chat, impressions of stories, etc. This aspect introduces a game-like component to friendships and it also allows a person to explore who their nearest friend on Snapchat would be, which is rather entertaining.
Your friend as a Bitmoji is visible within each planet and has its own distinctive features (hearts, stars, or rings), which helps you determine where each of them occupies the space in your social galaxy. The listings are dynamic, and they would change with time as you adopt different interaction patterns and users are encouraged to be active on the platform to retain or improve the listing of their friends.
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Snapchat Planets Order and Their Meanings
The Snapchat Planets follow the same order as the planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each planet corresponds to a specific position on your Best Friends list, with Mercury representing your closest friend and Neptune your eighth-closest friend. Below is a detailed breakdown of each planet, its meaning, and its visual representation, based on information from various sources.
Just like the planets in our solar system the Snapchat Planets proceed in such order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A planet has a certain place on your Best Friends list (Mercury is your best friend and Neptune is your eighth-best friend).
Each of the planets, their meaning, and their appearance are explained in detail below using information that is available in different sources.
Mercury – #1 Best Friend
- Meaning: Mercury is your number one closest and best Snapchat friend! It is the person with whom you share a lot of snaps, chat, and story views. They are the people who you call whenever you need something, they have probably long-term Snapstreaks and talk to each other every day.
- Appearance: Reddish-blue planet where five red hearts are around your friend Bitmoji with sparkling stars underlining the intimacy of your relationship.
- Example: When you are snapping with your best friend several times a day and preserving a streak, it is probably your Mercury.
Venus – #2 Best Friend
- Meaning: Venus is the second-best friend, someone with whom you always maintain contact with but a little less frequently than your Mercury friend. This remains to be a powerful friendship since they still chat and send snaps.
- Appearance: A yellow planet with pink and blue and yellow hearts around the head of your friend symbolizing a pleasant and vibrant relationship.
- Example: A good friend with whom you spend time on a daily basis but who is not your best friend can be your Venus.
Earth – #3 Best Friend
- Meaning: Earth is your third closest friend and this means that you have a good friendship where regular interactions exist albeit less intense as compared to that with Mercury or Venus. You probably snap or chat several times in a week.
- Appearance: The blue and green planet with the familiar continents decorates with red hearts and twinkly stars around your friend Bitmoji.
- Example: Your Earth can be a friend in whom you communicate on a more or less regular basis, perhaps respond to his or her stories, or have weekly chat sessions.
Mars – #4 Best Friend
- Meaning: Mars represents the fourth-closest friend of yours. Communication is continued yet less regular, say once per week, sharing a few carefree shots, or an occasional conversation.
- Appearance: A dark red planet with pink and blue hearts and small stars around your friend Bitmoji, a lively but somewhat an arms-length relationship.
- Example: Your Mars can be the person you can take photographers when important things happen or the person you share details with once in a while.
Jupiter – #5 Best Friend
- Meaning: You can consider Jupiter as your fifth-favorite friend since it is the largest planet and you do not see him/her as often as you see others, maybe once or twice a week. This friend adds entertainment and vitality to your Snapchat conversations, although the bond is not so strong.
- Appearance: Reddish-orange planet with dark orange stripes and twirling stars around the Planet of your friend Bitmoji, which creates an image of bold and energetic look.
- Example: A friend you meet occasionally and may share silly filters or jokes, this can be your Jupiter.
Saturn – #6 Best Friend
- Meaning: Saturn refers to your sixth best friend, and people relate with them seldomly, but in a meaningful way. This friend can either give an intelligent counsel or just an ear when time to time chatting gets going.
- Appearance: An orange yellow planet with well-known rings and stars around the Bitmoji of your friend, caring about a stable and supportive relationship.
- Example: A friend that you do not snap on a day-to-day basis but talk to on a deeper level and that person is your Saturn.
Uranus – #7 Best Friend
- Meaning: Uranus is an indicator of your seventh best friend, and the communication with them is also minimal. It could be that this friend introduces some form of fresh air, to you or even makes you think differently whenever there is a meeting.
- Appearance: A sea-green planet bearing no hearts but just your friend, which means that the relationship is less close but appreciated just the same, in the form of Bitmoji.
- Example: A friend with whom you snap every now and then, can possibly have new ideas or insights, this can be your Uranus.
Neptune – #8 Best Friend
- Meaning: The most distant planet, Neptune, represents your 8th friend (closest friend) and you have a lot less to deal with him (or her). This could be an old friend, a childhood friend, an old classmate, or any other person you do not snap with most of the time but you have some nostalgic thing about.
- Appearance: A sad blue planet where you and your friend have Bitmoji and this is narrating the fact that you are not happy with the communication you have through Snapchat.
- Example: A friend that you may have not snapped in months and still keep in contact with may be your Neptune.
Note: Pluto is not marked as a planet in the Snapchat Friend Solar System since this object is not considered a planet in the real solar system.
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How to Access Snapchat Planets
Using the Snapchat Planets feature requires active Snapchat Plus subscription, which is about 3.99 USD/month in the USA or 49 USD per month in India. This is how to get in and turn on the feature:
Subscribe to Snapchat Plus:
- Start the Snapchat application in Android and iOS.
- Click on the profile icon on the top left.
- Go to Settings, and go to Snapchat Plus.
- Subscribe to the prompts, including any introductory deals or discounts.
Enable the Friend Solar System:
- Solar System feature is naturally turned off when a new user accepts the subscription to Snapchat Plus as it raises privacy issues.
- Click on your profile, select Snapchat Plus and switch on the Solar System It is possible to turn off at any moment.
Check Your Position in a Friend’s Solar System:
- Open the profile of your friend on Snapchat.
- Seek a Best Friends or Friends badge that has a gold ring on it.
- Best Friends badge: It means you appear in each other in the top 8 friends list.
- Friends badge: You are in their top eight, they are not in yours.
- Tap the badge and see what planet you are in their Solar System (e.g. Mars means you are on their fourth closest friend).
View Your Own Solar System:
It is not possible to straight see a list of all your friends in your Solar System, but by going to the profile of the eight of your nearest-and-dearest you can check out whether they have been given the Best Friends badge. Planet allocated to any of your friends depicts their status in your solar system.
How Snapchat Planets Work
The Snapchat Friend Solar System organizes the friends according to a mixture of metrics, among which:
- Snap Frequency: The number of snaps received and shared.
- Chat Frequency: The rate in which you communicate with one another.
- Story Interactions: Reading or responding to the story of others.
- Snapstreaks: Keeping regular snapping on daily basis will make you go up in ranks.
Rankings are constantly adjusted according to how you interact. In case of example, when you begin to snap together with a friend who is ranked as Earth, there is likelihood of them rising up to Venus or Mercury in the course of time.
The rankings are however confidential-you would only appear on your own Solar System, and your friends would only know theirs. The privacy criteria here will mean that no one can see your location in their Solar System unless you go and take a look at them.
Benefits
- Engagement: users are more likely to access the gamified Snapchat Planets frequently to defend or increase the ranking of their friends, making the platform very active.
- Visualizing: Planetary metaphor offers a playful and fun method to familiarize with your social interactions which makes Snapchat more interactive.
- Dynamic Updates: A person can move between ranks in real time and this is influenced by the dynamics of friendship.
Controversies
- Mental Health Concerns: It is reported that the feature can lead to anxiety or the feeling of insufficiency of younger users, particularly when they learn that they are ranked lower (e.g., Neptune) in a Solar System of one of their friends. This caused Snapchat to turn the function off by default so that it can be manually turned on by the user.
- Privacy: Rankings are off-limits and invisible; however, the fact that your hierarchy is visible in a friend network may stir privacy issues unless approached with wisdom.
- Subscription Barrier: The access to the feature is exclusive to those subscribers of Snapchat Plus, hence displeasing free users.
Tips to Improve Your Planet Rankings
To bring a friend move closer to the Sun (e.g. to merge a friend who is a Jupiter on a mercury), see them more of what you are doing and speaking with them:
- Send Regular Snaps: One daily snap, or keeping streaks, alone will have a big impact on the ranking of a friend.
- Chat: This is done through chats and messages.
- Respond to Stories: watching and responding to stories posted by your friend helps them rank high.
- Mutual Engagement: To achieve better global ranks, you and your friend should regularly interact with each other since the algorithm regards mutual activity.
Snapchat Planets vs. Other Features
- Snapchat Planets versus Friend Emojis: Friend emojis (e.g. 🔥 to show streak, ❤️ to show best friends) are used to show a specific type of interactions (onesie), whereas Planets are used to compare friends in general ranking, in visual form (e.g. out of the top eight).
- Snapchat Planets and Snapstreaks: Streaks are based on consecutive snaps daily, and Planets follow around overall engagement, including chats and story views.
FAQs
Can I use Snapchat Planets without a Snapchat Plus subscription?
Not at all, this is also a characteristic that only subscribers of Snapchat Plus can enjoy.
How do I know if I’m in a friend’s Solar System?
Go to their profile and hit the Best Friends or Friends emblem to find out what planet you are. When there is no badge, you are outside their top eight.
Why don’t I see the Solar System feature?
Have a Snapchat Plus subscription, and enable it in your Settings > Snapchat Plus > Solar System. To view each other ranking, both of you have to be subscribers.
Do planets reflect real-life friendships?
That is not necessarily so. Snapchat relationships are the basis on which planets are founded, and it might not portray the richness of face-to-face relationships.
Conclusion
Its Friends Planets feature is an innovative and interactive tool that helps you depict your nearest phone pals on the app in the form of a customized solar system by making your eight best friends into your mini solar system. Snapchat is a game by giving your best friend the planet Mercury and the least active friend the planet Neptune, it forces people to remain active.
However, the feature is available only to Snapchat Plus subscribers and only through manual process, the feature brings some fun dynamic layer in the app. Nonetheless, it should be treated lightly by its users because people are ranked online, and everything might not be the true picture of the relationships. To be able to check this feature out, pay to subscribe to Snapchat Plus and turn on the Solar System turn on and start to snap away in order to bring your friends closer to the Sun!
