Snapchat keeps innovating with interactive features that heighten the social experience. In 2025, its Snap Planets feature has become a viral talking point, especially among Gen Z and social media enthusiasts. This guide explains how Snap Planets works, the meaning behind each planet, how rankings reflect your friendships, and much more. Expect a deep dive into user experience, privacy concerns, ranking mechanics, and community impact.

What Are Snap Planets?

Snap Planets is part of Snapchat Plus, a premium service that unlocks exclusive features for users. It visually organizes your closest friends as planets orbiting around you—the Sun—based on interaction frequency. Instead of a generic emoji or badge, every friend gets assigned a planet depending on your engagement level. This “Friend Solar System” shows at a glance who your inner circle really is.

Key facts:

• Only Snapchat Plus subscribers can access Snap Planets.

• The feature is dynamic, updating rankings as your interaction patterns shift.

• Assignment is based on snaps, chats, streaks, and other direct engagements.

The Solar System Analogy

• You are the Sun—the center of your own social solar system.

• Top 8 friends are planets—from Mercury (closest) to Neptune (farthest).

  • Ordering mirrors the real solar system sequence: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

  • The closer the planet, the greater the interaction.

This fun gamification creates a hierarchy based on actual behavior, making friendship ranks more tangible.

How Planets Are Assigned

Snapchat calculates rankings from several data points:

• Total number of snaps exchanged

• Chat frequency

• Streak length (daily snap exchanges)

• Other engagement metrics

Mercury is your closest friend; Neptune is your eighth closest. The system updates live, making the planet order representative of real-time engagement.

Planet Meanings and Order

Here’s what each planet represents:

Each planet position is a direct reflection of your relationship depth and Snapchat activity.

How to View Your Planets

Snapchat Plus users can tap a badge in the chat profile to view their friend’s Solar System and see which planet they occupy. This ranking is only visible to you—not to your friends—helping preserve privacy and prevent comparison anxiety.

Steps to check your planet:

• Open the chat profile with a friend.

• Look for the Best Friends or Friends badge.

• Tap it to reveal the Solar System view.

Remember, positions change as your interaction patterns evolve.

Is Snap Planets Accurate?

Snap Planets reflects interaction data rather than sentimental value. If you message someone a lot, they will be closer in your Solar System—but this doesn’t account for older friends with lower but meaningful engagement. It’s best viewed as a fun snapshot rather than an absolute measure of closeness.

Privacy, Limitations, and Concerns

• Only Snapchat Plus users see these rankings.

• Friends do not see their own planet ranking in your Solar System.

• Rankings are private and dynamic.

• The system tracks active interactions, not passive connections (story views, etc.).

• Some users may find the concept gamifies relationships too much.

Snapchat offers the feature as a playful enhancement, not as a definitive ranking of best friends.

How to Change Planet Rankings

Your solar system is shaped by behavior:

• Send more snaps and messages to a friend to increase their ranking.

• Reduce interactions and their planet may drift farther from the Sun.

There’s no manual override—the system is algorithmic and responds to usage.

Impact on Community and Culture

Snap Planets is especially popular with Gen Z, becoming a conversation starter and fueling comparisons. It inspires users to reflect on who they interact with most and has made Snapchat Plus more desirable, driving premium signups.

Schools and friendship groups sometimes use the rankings for playful banter—though this can spark debate about loyalty and relationship value.

Snap Planets for Brands and Marketers

While Snap Planets is user-facing, brands can study the model for:

• Gamifying interaction on their platforms.

• Creating loyalty or inner circle programs.

• Encouraging premium signups with exclusive features.

Snap Planets showcases how social platforms innovate to boost engagement and community.

How Does Snap Planets Compare to Other Ranking Features?

Snap Planets offers more transparency and an interactive feel than traditional emoji systems.

Conclusion

Snap Planets brings personality and fun to digital friendships, spotlighting the people who matter most in your Snapchat universe. As a premium feature, it blends gamification with genuine social engagement. Whether for playful reflection or deeper connection, Snap Planet exemplifies social media’s evolving approach to personal relationships.

Snap Planets: Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What is Snap Planets on Snapchat?
A: Snap Planets is a Snapchat Plus feature that visualizes friend rankings as planets in a solar system, based on interaction frequency.

Q2: How many planets are in Snap Planets?
A: Eight planets, representing your top eight friends.

Q3: Does everyone see the same planet order?
A: No. Your planets are based on your interaction data. Your position may vary in someone else’s ranking.

Q4: How do I move someone closer in my Snap Planets solar system?
A: Increase interactions (snaps, messages, streaks) with that person.

Q5: Is Snap Planets only for Snapchat Plus users?
A: Yes, only Snapchat Plus subscribers have access.

Q6: Is my planet ranking visible to my friends?
A: No. Only you can see the friend’s planet ranking in your solar system.

Q7: What happens if I stop interacting with a friend?
A: Their planet ranking will drop and move farther from the Sun.

Q8: Does Snap Planet measure real friendship?
A: It measures digital engagement, not depth of relationship.