Snapchat updates your list of Best Friends depending on who you’re in touch with the most. It is a list of 8, so you shouldn’t be surprised if someone who used to be a Best Friend isn’t on the list anymore.
The more friends you have on Snapchat, the harder it is to keep track of them all.
But when you scroll through the list of all your friends, you might realize that some names are missing. Why do people disappear from this list? Have they deleted you?
A Few Important Facts about Your Snapchat Friends
Different social media platforms have different approaches to modeling your interpersonal relationships.
For example, consider Facebook friend requests. You can only add a friend on Facebook if they consider you to be their friend too. If someone removes you from their Facebook friends list, you won’t see them on your own list either.
On the other hand, you only have to click follow on Instagram to follow someone. It doesn’t have to be mutual.
What about Snapchat? Do Snapchat friendships have to be bidirectional?
1. You Can Add a Friend Without Sending a Request
Simply find your friend based on your contacts, or based on their username or their email.
Your friend will receive a notification. It’s up to them to decide whether they will add you back. They’ll stay on your list of friends even if they never add you as a friend.
2. Your Friends Can See More of Your Content
When someone is on your list of friends, they can see the Stories that you set to private. They might be able to see your Snap Map location, depending on your preferences.
It’s up to you to decide who can Snap you and Chat you. You can choose to receive messages from anybody, or just from people you added as friends. The person sending you a Snap doesn’t necessarily have to add you as a friend.
Here is how you can change your privacy settings:
Go Into Settings
On your Profile screen, select the gear icon in the top right corner.
Scroll Down to the Who Can… Section
This is where you choose who can see your Stories, your location, and who can contact you. You can also decide who can see you in Quick Add, which is Snapchat’s feature for recommending new friends.
Tap on the Category You Want to Change
In the case of your location and your stories, you can also grant access to some friends but not others.
3. The Order of Your Friends List Changes Frequently
The order depends on how frequently your friend contacted you.
What Happens When Someone Deletes You From Their List of Friends?
Here is what you can expect when someone removes you from their friends list:
- Depending on their privacy settings, you may not be able to send them a Snap or Chat.
- You won’t see their private Stories anymore.
- They won’t see your content in Explore anymore.
- You can’t see their Snap score anymore.
However, this won’t remove the person from your list of friends. So when you scroll through your list, you won’t know whether someone has deleted you.
Here is how you can check if someone removed you from their friends list:
1. Open Your List of Friends
From the Snap screen.
2. Tap on The Friend You Suspect Deleted You
3. Check If You Can See Their Snap Score
If you aren’t deleted, then you can see your friend’s full name, their username, their snap score, and their friend emojis.
But if your friend did delete you, you won’t be able to see their snap score or the emojis.
So just removing you won’t make the person disappear from your friends list. What else could be the reason behind a missing friend?
What Happens When Someone Blocks You?
On Snapchat, blocking has more consequences than deleting.
When a person blocks you, you won’t be able to send them Snaps or Chats, whatever their privacy settings are. They also won’t be able to see your Stories or your location.
But most importantly, it will change your friends list. After someone has blocked you, their name will disappear from your list. They also won’t appear in your recent conversations.
What else does blocking do? If you want to Add a Friend, and you search for the person who blocked you, you won’t be able to find them.
What Happens When Someone Deletes Their Account?
If a friend deletes their account, their name will disappear from your list of friends. You also won’t be able to find them if you search for them.
So how do you know whether you got blocked or whether the person in question deleted their Snapchat account? Follow these steps to find out.
1. Log Out From Snapchat
2. Sign In with a Different Account
You can borrow your friend’s account details to sign in under their name. But to be absolutely sure you’re getting the right answer, you should sign up with a new account. You can use a temporary email address to do this, such as Guerilla Mail.
3. With Your New Account, Search for Your Former Contact By Name
If they left Snapchat, you won’t be able to find them. But if they have you blocked, you will be able to find them from this new account. In this case, your usual account can’t find them because they blocked it, not because they disappeared from Snapchat.
A Quick Recap
If someone disappeared from your list of friends, they either blocked you or they deleted their account. Just removing you from their friends list won’t have this effect.
Final Word
It can be confusing or upsetting to discover that someone’s name is missing from your list of friends. A short investigation can let you know whether the person in question blocked you or left Snapchat completely.
But if you do find out that you’ve been blocked, it’s important to respect that decision. Don’t try to get in touch with your former contact from a new account. It’s up to them to unblock you if they feel like it.
