You're staring at your phone, wondering why that person you barely talk to is suddenly at the top of your list. It's frustrating. Snapchat's "Best Friends" feature has been a staple of the app for years, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood parts of the platform. Basically, it’s a private list of the people you interact with the most. But "interact" is a loaded word in the world of Snap Inc.
It isn't just about who you message. It's a calculation.
Snapchat uses a specific, proprietary algorithm to determine who makes the cut. It’s not just a tally of total messages sent. If it were that simple, your Best Friends list would never change. Instead, the app looks at the frequency and recency of your interactions. You might have noticed that your list fluctuates. One day your sibling is at the top; the next, it’s a coworker you’ve been coordinating with for a happy hour. That’s the algorithm at work, constantly re-evaluating your social circle in real-time.
What are Best Friends on Snapchat anyway?
At its core, the Best Friends list is a shortcut. It’s designed to make it easier for you to send Snaps to the people you care about—or at least the people you talk to most often. You’ll find this list on the "Send To" screen and within your own profile. It’s private. Nobody else can see who is on your list, which is a major shift from the early days of the app when Best Friends lists were public for everyone to stalk.
Remember those days? It caused a lot of drama.
Today, the privacy aspect is a relief. You can have up to eight Best Friends at any given time. This number is fixed. You can't manually add someone to this list by clicking a button, and you can't "pin" someone there unless you are a Snapchat+ subscriber. For the average user, the list is purely meritocratic based on the data Snapchat collects about your behavior.
How the algorithm picks your favorites
Snapchat is pretty tight-lipped about the exact math, but we know the broad strokes. It’s about 1-to-1 engagement. Group chats don't count toward your Best Friends status. If you blast a Snap to 20 people at once, that also doesn't carry as much weight as a direct, back-and-forth conversation with a single person.
The algorithm prioritizes:
📖 Related: How to Reset a Roku TV Without Losing Your Sanity
- Frequency: How often you send Snaps to someone.
- Recency: How lately you've been talking.
- Consistency: Maintaining a daily rhythm (the "Streak" factor).
If you stop snapping someone for a few days, they’ll likely drop off the list. It’s a "what have you done for me lately" kind of system. This is why you might see a "Best Friend" disappear after a quiet weekend.
Decoding those confusing Friend Emojis
If you’ve looked at your chat list, you’ve seen them. The yellow hearts, the red hearts, the smirking faces. These aren't random. They are visual indicators of your relationship status according to the Snapchat Best Friends algorithm.
The Yellow Heart ($\text{💛}$) means you are each other's #1 Best Friend. You send the most Snaps to them, and they send the most Snaps to you. It’s a mutual peak. If you manage to keep that yellow heart for two weeks straight, it turns into a Red Heart ($\text{❤️}$). Hit the two-month mark? You get the coveted Pink Hearts ($\text{💕}$).
It's sorta like a digital relationship milestone.
Then there are the more nuanced ones. The Grimace Face ($\text{😬}$) is the most awkward. It means your #1 Best Friend is also their #1 Best Friend. Essentially, you're competing for the same person's attention. The Sunglasses Face ($\text{😎}$) means you share a close friend, but not necessarily a best friend.
Then there's the Fire Emoji ($\text{🔥}$). That’s the Snapstreak. It signifies that you and this friend have snapped each other every single day for a certain number of days. While streaks are related to the Best Friends list, they aren't the same thing. You can have a 100-day streak with someone who isn't on your Best Friends list if you also happen to talk to eight other people even more frequently.
The Snapchat+ Loophole: Pinning your #1
In 2022, Snap Inc. launched Snapchat+, a subscription service that costs about $3.99 a month. It changed the rules of the game. For the first time, users could bypass the algorithm.
If you pay for the subscription, you can "Pin" someone as your #1 Best Friend. This places them at the top of your list regardless of how much you actually talk to them. It’s a way to keep your significant other or your actual best friend at the top even if you aren't constantly sending them Snaps.
But even with Snapchat+, you can't see other people's Best Friends. You do get "Friend Solar Systems," though. This feature lets you see where you rank in a friend's orbit. If you’re Mercury, you’re their #1. If you’re Neptune, you’re their #8. It’s a bit of a controversial feature because it can lead to a lot of overthinking. "Why am I Mars and not Venus?"
Social media anxiety is real, honestly.
Why did my Best Friend disappear?
It happens. You open the app and your "BFF" is gone.
Usually, it’s just the math. If you start talking to a group of new people—maybe you started a new job or joined a new hobby group—your interaction volume with those new people might surpass your old friends. Since there are only eight slots, someone has to get bumped.
Another reason is a "silent" interaction. Maybe you’re still talking to them, but they’ve stopped sending you Snaps. Remember, the highest ranks (the hearts) require mutual top-tier interaction. If they start snapping someone else more than they snap you, you lose the heart.
It’s not personal. It’s just data.
There is also the possibility of being blocked or unfriended, though that’s usually obvious because their entire name will disappear from your chat feed, not just the Best Friends section. If you can still see their score and their stories, you haven't been blocked; you’ve just been out-snapped by someone else.
Managing your list: Can you remove people?
Here is the frustrating part: You cannot manually delete someone from your Best Friends list without taking drastic measures. Snapchat doesn't give you a "Remove from Best Friends" button.
You have three real options if you want someone gone:
- The Slow Burn: Stop snapping them. Completely. If you stop interacting with them, the algorithm will eventually realize they aren't a "best friend" anymore and move them down the list. This takes a few days, sometimes a week.
- The Overdrive: Start snapping other people way more. You can "push" someone off the bottom of the top eight by increasing your volume with others.
- The Nuclear Option: Block and unblock. If you block someone, it clears the interaction history that the Best Friends algorithm uses. If you unblock them immediately, they will be gone from your Best Friends list. However, this also removes them as a friend entirely, so you’ll have to add them back, which might look a little weird if they notice.
Most people choose the slow burn. It's less dramatic.
The psychology of the Best Friends list
Why do we care so much?
Psychologists often point to "social proof" and "gamification." Snapchat has turned friendship into a game with levels, rewards (emojis), and rankings. It creates a sense of urgency to maintain those streaks and hearts. For younger users, being on someone’s Best Friends list is a status symbol, a digital confirmation of a real-world bond.
But it’s important to remember that an app's algorithm is a poor reflection of actual intimacy. You might talk to your partner on the phone for three hours every night, but if you don't send Snaps, the app thinks you're strangers. Conversely, you might have a 500-day streak with someone you haven't seen in person in three years.
The list measures app usage, not friendship quality.
Actionable steps for a better Snapchat experience
If the Best Friends feature is stressing you out or just not working the way you want, here is how to take control of it.
Audit your interactions. If you want to maintain a "Yellow Heart" with someone, make sure you are sending them individual Snaps, not just including them in a mass-send. The algorithm rewards the 1-on-1.
Use the Pin feature if you're a heavy user. If you find yourself constantly searching for one specific person, $4 a month for Snapchat+ might actually be worth the time saved. It removes the stress of the algorithm entirely.
Don't overthink the emojis. If a heart disappears, it’s usually because of a busy day or a change in phone habits. It doesn't mean the friendship is over.
Clear your cache. Sometimes the list glitches. If someone should be there and isn't, go to your settings, scroll down to "Account Actions," and hit "Clear Cache." It won't delete your memories or chats, but it might force the app to refresh your friend data.
Snapchat is meant to be a fun, ephemeral way to communicate. The Best Friends list is just a tool to help you do that faster. Keep the focus on the conversations, not the icons next to the names.
Check your list now—is it who you expected? If not, you know what to do. Start snapping or start ignoring. The algorithm is always watching.