You're staring at a tiny gold ring around a friend's bitmoji and wondering why on earth you're suddenly Jupiter instead of Mars. It's a weirdly stressful part of modern digital life. Snapchat Plus introduced the best friends planets snap feature as a way to visualize your "closeness" with your frequent contacts, but instead of making things simpler, it sparked a million questions about who is talking to whom.
The system isn't random. It’s based on a specific hierarchy of communication. If you've paid for the subscription, you’ve likely seen these celestial icons popping up next to your friends’ profiles on their "Friendship Profile" page. It’s basically a map of your social orbit.
The Science of Your Snapchat Orbit
The order of the planets follows the actual order of our solar system, starting from the Sun. In this metaphor, you are the Sun. Your friends revolve around you. The person you chat with the most—meaning the person you send the most snaps to and receive the most from—is Mercury.
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Therefore, your "Mercury" is your #1 Best Friend.
It sounds straightforward, but people get tripped up because Snapchat doesn't just count the number of messages. It looks at the frequency of interactions over a rolling period. You might have sent a thousand snaps to someone last year, but if you haven't talked in three days, they might drop from Venus to Neptune faster than you’d expect.
Breaking Down the Planetary Hierarchy
Here is how the best friends planets snap system categorizes your Friend List:
- Mercury: This is your absolute top Best Friend. You guys are basically inseparable on the app.
- Venus: Your second closest friend. You talk a ton, but not quite as much as you do with Mercury.
- Earth: Third place. Usually, this is someone you've had a consistent streak with or chat with daily.
- Mars: Fourth closest. You’re still "besties," but the frequency is lower.
- Jupiter: Fifth place.
- Saturn: Sixth place.
- Uranus: Seventh place.
- Neptune: Eighth place. This is the edge of your "Best Friend" circle.
If someone isn't on this list, they aren't in your top eight. It’s a brutal, digital version of the old MySpace Top 8, except the algorithm decides the order instead of you manually picking your favorites to annoy your ex.
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Honestly, the "Earth" designation is the one that gets people talking the most. Being someone's Earth feels stable. It’s the "Goldilocks zone." But if you see yourself as someone's Neptune, it’s a bit of a reality check. You’re barely in the neighborhood.
Privacy and the "Friend Solar System" Controversy
Snapchat actually caught a fair amount of heat for this feature when it launched. Why? Because it can be a little too transparent.
Originally, the feature was much more prominent. After some feedback regarding the pressure it put on friendships and relationships, Snapchat made a slight change. Now, you can only see where you rank in their solar system if you both have Snapchat Plus, and even then, it’s tucked away.
It’s important to clarify a common misconception: you cannot see another person's entire solar system. You can only see where you stand in relation to them. If you check your friend Sarah's profile and see you are "Mars," it means you are her fourth closest friend. You have no way of knowing who her Mercury, Venus, or Earth are.
This hasn't stopped the drama. Couples have been known to argue over why a "work friend" is Mercury while the significant other is relegated to Venus. It’s a lot of weight to put on an algorithm that is literally just counting data packets sent through a server in a warehouse.
Why Your Planet Ranking Might Change Suddenly
One day you're Earth. The next, you're Saturn. What happened?
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Snapchat’s algorithm is incredibly sensitive. It doesn't take a "break." If you go on a camping trip for a weekend and don't have service, your rankings will tank. Meanwhile, if your friend starts a new group chat with someone else and they start spamming memes, that new person can rocket up to Mercury in a matter of days.
The best friends planets snap ranking is also two-way but asymmetrical.
You might be someone's Mercury (their #1), but they might only be your Venus (your #2). This happens because communication isn't always equal. If Sarah sends 100 snaps to Mike, but Mike sends 500 snaps to Dave, Sarah might view Mike as her top friend, but Mike views Dave as his.
It’s a mathematical representation of "who do I talk to the most," not "who do I like the most." Sometimes we talk to the person who annoys us the most just to keep a streak alive or because we're coordinating a logistics-heavy event. The app doesn't know the difference between a heartfelt "I love you" and a "pick up the milk" snap.
Managing the Social Pressure of Snapchat Plus
If the planetary system is stressing you out, you can actually turn off the "Best Friends" badge. Snapchat realized that for some users, seeing the visual data of their social standing was more anxiety-inducing than fun.
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To manage this, you usually head into your Snapchat Plus settings (accessible by tapping the Snapchat Plus banner on your profile). From there, you can toggle the "Best Friends Badge" on or off. Turning it off doesn't stop the app from tracking the data, but it hides the planet icon from your view, which—let’s be honest—is sometimes necessary for mental peace.
There’s also the "Post View Emoji" and other flair that can clutter the interface. Snapchat Plus is essentially a playground for power users who want more data, but more data often leads to more overthinking.
The Technical Side: How Often Does It Update?
The servers don't update in real-time for every single snap sent. Instead, the rankings usually refresh every few hours or once a day. If you’ve been snapping someone non-stop for an hour, don't expect to see your planet status jump immediately. Give it a sleep cycle. By the next morning, the "solar system" usually realigns itself.
Also, keep in mind that "Best Friends" on Snapchat aren't just people you snap. It includes people you chat with via text in the app. The "closeness" score is a weighted average of all interactions within the chat interface.
Actionable Steps for Snapchat Plus Users
If you want to use the best friends planets snap feature effectively without it ruining your friendships, keep these points in mind:
- Check your ranking regularly if you're curious, but don't obsess. If you see yourself moving further out in a friend's orbit, it likely just means they've been busy or are currently coordinating with someone else more frequently.
- Use the "Pin as #1 Best Friend" feature. If the algorithm keeps putting the wrong person at the top, Snapchat Plus allows you to pin someone as your #1 "BFF." This overrides the "Sun/Mercury" logic visually for you, making your most important person always appear at the top of your chat list, regardless of the solar system ranking.
- Understand the "Streaks" vs. "Planets" distinction. A long streak doesn't guarantee a Mercury spot. A streak only requires one snap a day. To be Mercury, you need high-volume, frequent interaction.
- Toggle the feature off during stressful periods. If you're going through a rough patch in a relationship or friendship, go into your Plus settings and hide the badges. You don't need a digital planet to tell you things are complicated.
The Friend Solar System is a tool, not a definitive judgment on your worth as a human being. It’s a fun, slightly nerdy way to see who you're spending your digital energy on. Use it to keep track of your besties, but remember that the best friendships often exist entirely off-screen, where no planets are required.
To see your current status, open Snapchat, go to your profile, tap on your Snapchat Plus membership, and look at the "Best Friends" section. If you want to see your rank with a specific person, open their Friendship Profile and look for the gold-bordered badge. Clicking it will reveal exactly which planet you represent in their world.