It seems like there are more social networks every day! With each new platform, it feels like we’re all forcedto spend more and more time per day balancing our social lives online.
Posting status updates to Facebook, new selfies to Instagram, retweeting jokes and memes on Twitter, and so much more – it seems impossible to keep track of everything.
That’s why there’s something special about what’s become our favorite social network, Snapchat. Unlike those other older social networks, Snapchat feels fresh and new, making friendships on the platform feel a little more connected than with any other social network we’ve seen online.
There’s something magical about sending temporary photos and videos to your friends, allowing yourself to share a slice of your life with anyone on your friends list.
One of the nice features of Snapchat that make it feel highly personalized compared to other platforms is the use of small emoticons next to the users with whom you interact the most. These icons really light up your feed, displaying your friendship with each individual in a way that makes everything feel real in a very tangible way. Being able to see how many days in a row you and your friends have snapped each other or seeing a small cake icon next to the friends whose birthdays are being celebrated that day creates a feeling of community and cohesion that simply doesn’t exist on other social platforms.
Of course, there’s one major problem with the use of these emojis and icons on Snapchat: it’s often hard to tell exactly what each of them means! There are so many different icons used inside of Snapchat, it often becomes next to impossible to tell what the app is trying to tell you about your friendships. Case in point: the app currently uses three different heart emojis to explain different levels of friendship inside the app. Instead of trying to guess what each level of heart means, we’ve done the hard work for you: here’s what each of those heart icons mean inside Snapchat.
A Quick Snapchat Emoji Explainer
If you’re brand new to Snapchat, it can be difficult to understand what any of the emojis and icons inside of the app are trying to tell you. Unlike most applications that use emojis, where the icons are used as fun ways to add some flavor into your messages with other people, Snapchat uses these emojis next to the contacts list inside your application to explain the “level” of friendship you share with another user on Snapchat. This can be anything from a smiling face to represent one of your “best friends” on the app, to a baby icon to represent recently added friends, to the fire emoji to represent a Snapchat streak. There are a ton of hidden emojis inside the app, many of which you may have never even seen.
Out of all of the emojis on Snapchat, none are quite as confusing as the hearts. Snapchat uses three different heart emojis to represent different connections between you and another user, with each heart representing a different level of friendship between you and another person. As you move up through the ranks of best friendship, you’ll begin exchanging hearts with other colors. It may cause you a lot of confusion the first time you see a red heart replace your yellow heart, but with the research we’ve gathered below, you’ll never be confused about the platform again.
Yellow Heart
Our first heart to focus on is the yellow heart, which represents the first level of best friendship in the application. While it might not sound like a lot, this level of friendship is a big deal. See, while Snapchat uses an algorithm to determine who your “best friends” are on the platform (a list you can easily view when sending snaps to friends from your contacts list), only one person can truly be your number one best friend on the platform, and that person is granted a yellow heart to commemorate the occasion. This heart can change users or disappear, so if you’re looking to keep a consistent person in that top spot, you’ll want to make sure to snap your best friend regularly. Otherwise, you’ll see that yellow heart disappear – along with the chances of evolving into the other hearts on this list.
It’s also worth noting you aren’t the only one who can see this heart on Snapchat. Your best friend will be able to see the yellow heart too, meaning the next time you both meet up in real life, you’ll be able to celebrate in person.
Red Heart
Like a video game, the red heart acts as the next level inside of Snapchat. While the red heart ostensibly represents the same idea as the yellow heart, representing a shared level of best friendship on the platform, obtaining a red heart isn’t quite as easy. In order to have this red heart appear on your feed next to your best friend’s name, you’ll have to stay number one best friends with them for two straight weeks. This might sound easy, and for some it will be, but other may have to work at this one. If you start to stray away from the platform, or begin exchanging snaps and messages with tons of other users on the platform, you’ll end up exchanging your number one spot with someone else, leading to a loss of your yellow heart – and being forced to restart the entire streak of consecutive best friends.
If you happen to earn the red heart, you should feel proud of yourself and your fellow Snapper. Remaining a number one best friend inside Snapchat is no easy feat, and accomplishing that goal should be considered a job well done. That said, if you’re looking for the final tier of best friendship, you aren’t quite there yet.
Pink Hearts
This is it – the final threshold. If you’ve come this far, you’ve come a long way. Not only did you manage to become the number one best friend of another user, which on its own is no small feat, but you managed to stay strong with them for not just the two weeks required to earn a red heart, but the twomonths required to earn the two pink hearts along your name. It’s been a long two months of you and your best friend sending selfies, videos, filters, effects, and more, but you did it. And for your trouble, you’ve earned the pink hearts of best friendship.
Your work isn’t done, however. Just because the hearts top out at two months doesn’t mean you’ll be able to rest on your laurels. See, in order to keep those pink hearts, you’ll have to continue your snapping with your best friend, in order to ensure you stay in their number one position. Snapchat doesn’t discuss how their Snapchat algorithm works, so while we can’t give any specific advice for you on keeping in your best friends spot, we’ll say this: snap your number one as much as possible in order to ensure you never lose that double-pink heart icon.
But if you do lose it, don’t stress too much. You can always start again, even if you’ll be pushed back down to the yellow heart.
