Snapchat streaks, officially called Snapstreaks, are much like Reddit karma: utterly useless in the real world, but a source of pride for those who have racked up massive totals.
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Whether you’re just starting out on Snapchat or you’re a long-time user who’s been enviously looking at your buddies’ growing Snapstreaks, you have come to the right place.
In this article, we explain everything you need to know about Snapchat streaks, then offer some practical tips to help you maximize your score.
What Are Streaks on Snapchat?
Snapchat primarily introduced Snapstreaks as a way to keep people on its app and within its ecosystem. Snapchat has come under increasing pressure in recent years as Instagram continues to hoover up the company’s userbase via its Snapchat-inspired Stories feature.
We’ll dive into the detail more closely later in the article, but at its most basic, a Snapstreak merely means you have exchanged snaps with another user at least once every 24 hours for several consecutive days.
You can see your live Snap Streaks by checking for the relevant emojis alongside your friends’ names in the conversations tab.
Since their launch, Snapstreaks have become popular among users. They’ve added an element of gamification to the app; groups of friends compete to see who can rack up the longest streak. You don’t win anything (other than an on-screen emoji), but it’s a fun challenge nonetheless.
Snapstreaks are also a great way to improve your Snapchat score
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. Running lots of concurrent Snap Streaks will see your score rise rapidly.
What Do the Snap Streak Emojis Mean?
Snapchat is full of emojis; you’ll see them pop up frequently to alert you to relationships, events, and celebrities.
However, there are a handful of Snapchat emojis relating to Snapstreaks. These are:
- Fire: You’ll see the fire emoji next to a person’s name emoji when the two of you have been on a Snapstreak for three consecutive days.
- 100: The 100 sign appears when you’ve been on a Snapchat streak for 100 consecutive days.
- Hourglass: The hourglass emoji will be displayed alongside someone’s name when you’re on a Snapstreak which is about to end.
- Mountain: The mountain emoji is something of a unicorn. Several Snapchat users claim they’ve seen it when they’ve been on an exceptionally long Snapstreak. However, Snapchat does not mention the mountain in its official documentation. Does it exist? We can’t confirm or deny it.
All the Snapstreak emojis are accompanied by a number. It represents the total number of consecutive days for which your Snapstreak has been running. It will reset to zero if you miss a day.
I lost My snapstreak with my cousin so i emailed snapchat support (yes I’m extra like that ) let’s just hope they restore our steak !! Pray for me ya’ll ??? pic.twitter.com/DEynpzLx7H
— Nor Alshimary ?? (@Noralshimary) August 7, 2018
What Are the Snapchat Streaks Rules?
The rules sound simple. Both you and your friend must send at least one snap to each other at least once every 24 hours in order to keep the Snapchat streak running. But alas, there are lots of caveats you need to know about.
There are five types of interactions that do not count towards your Snapstreak:
- Chatting: Snapchat isn’t just about sending videos and photos; you can also engage in regular text-based chat. Unfortunately, text conversation between you and your friend will not count towards your Snapstreak.
- Stories: One of Snapchat’s most popular features is the ability to record your daily story. It lets your followers check in to see what fun adventures you’ve been up to every day. Again, they won’t count towards your streak, even if the friend watches the story.
- Memories: Snapchat’s memories vault lets you rekindle old events and share them for a second time. Any memories you share with your buddy will not be considered as an interaction.
- Snapchat Spectacles: Yes, Snapchat Spectacles are still a “thing”. Sadly, if you use them to send content to your friend, you won’t be increasing your Snapstreak.
- Group chats: People who want to start lots of Snapstreaks always have the same thought: throw everyone into a huge group and bulk-Snap all the people at the same time. Sorry, but Snapchat is one step ahead of you—snaps you send to group chats won’t be considered; you need to snap everyone on an individual basis.
In fact, only two types of content will help you increase your Snapchat streak: sending a photo to a friend individually or sending a video to a friend individually.
Tips on How to Do Streaks on Snapchat
You don’t need to do anything special to start a streak on Snapchat; just make sure you send a snap to your friend, and your friend sends a snap to you at least once every 24 hours.
However, if you’re hopeful of developing a long streak, half the battle is starting your Snapstreak off on the right foot. Here are three tips that’ll get your new streak off to a flying start:
1. Find Willing Participants
Not everyone can be bothered to keep a Snapstreak going. Even some of the app’s most avid users might not be interested in sending a snap every single day to the same user.
Therefore, it’s important to make sure you find willing participants.
One way of establishing who is up for the challenge is to use some of Snapchat’s features. For example, take a blank photo with the caption “Snapstreak?” and send it to anyone you think would be interested. No one will know how many people you sent it to.
2. The First Day Matters
It’s also a good idea to start a streak on a special day (such as your birthday or Christmas), you’re more likely to grab the other person’s attention, get a reply, and keep the other person engaged for the long haul.
3. Focus on People With Whom You Frequently Interact
There’s little point in trying to start a Snapstreak with someone you rarely communicate with. Sure, it can be done, but there’s a high risk that the person will lose interest.
Remember, the first few weeks are the hardest. Once you get to a respectable number of consecutive days, both people are invested in the game and it becomes easier. The easiest way to get over the initial hurdle is to start Snapstreaks with people that you already send lots of snaps to.
Tips for Maintaining Your Snapchat Streak
Now that you have established a Snapstreak, here are a few ideas that should help you keep your Snapstreaks going for as long as possible.
1. Use Blank Photos
You don’t need to send high-quality snaps to keep the streak going—no one is judging you. Instead, why not take a blank photo and add a caption that says “Streak”. You can use the same picture every day and your score will keep going up. It’s one of the simplest Snapchat streak ideas out there.
2. Stick to a Particular Time of Day
Broadly speaking, it’s better to start your Snapstreaks later in the day, especially if you only plan on sending one snap per day.
Doing so means you will see the hourglass emoji for a few hours before your time expires. If you send a snap first thing in the morning, the emoji will only be visible during the middle of the night when you’re not using the app.
The flipside of this argument is that one of the most convenient times to send your snaps is when you first wake up; you could even set a reminder as part of your alarm.
You should use whichever approach works for you.
3. Reorganize Your Friends List
Some of your Snapstreaks might be with people who you do not consider to be your best friends. As such, they won’t appear in Snapchat’s automatic Best Friends list.
The solution is to rename your contacts. Snapchat lets you rename any person in your friends list to help you remember who they are (remember, some people have wacky usernames).
To change a friend’s name, start a chat with them, tap on the Menu icon in the top left-hand corner, and select Edit Name.
When choosing the new name, add the prefix of Aaaa. It will force the name to be pinned to the top of your list.
Note: If you want to change your Snapchat username
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, you need to take a different approach.
4. Check Your Filters
Sometimes, you might forget who you’re in a Snapstreak with, especially if you’re trying to juggle lots of Snapstreaks at the same time.
Luckily, there’s a way to see your streaks without going to your list of friends. Whenever you’re about to send a new snap and swiping through filters, you will see a special Snapchat streak filter. This will show you how many consecutive days you have racked up in big white numbers alongside the flame emoji.
Take Snapchat to the Next Level
Snapstreaks are just one of the many ways that Snapchat offers more than meets the eye. We’ve covered lots of tips and tricks for Snapchat beginners if you would like to learn more.
And remember, if you want to add more color and life to your Snapchat communications, make sure you use one of the many Snapchat filters
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available.