Why Everyone Is Talking About the Snapchat Planets Order
If you’ve been on social media lately, chances are you’ve heard the buzz surrounding the Snapchat Planets order. This viral feature from Snapchat Plus has everyone—from Gen Z users to digital culture enthusiasts—curious, amused, and sometimes even confused. But what exactly is this "planets" trend that’s taken over TikTok feeds, memes, and group chats?
In this article, we’ll unpack what the Snapchat Planets order is, how it works, why it's gaining popularity, and what it means for users. Whether you’re new to Snapchat or a long-time user wondering what all the planetary excitement is about, you’ll find answers here.
What Are Snapchat Planets?
Snapchat Planets is a unique and visually creative feature offered to Snapchat+ (Snapchat Plus) subscribers. The feature takes your top friends and arranges them in a model resembling our solar system, where you—the user—are the "Sun," and your best friends are represented as planets orbiting around you. Each planet signifies a specific level of closeness based on your interactions.
The concept gamifies social interaction and adds a playful, cosmic twist to your friend list. Each friend is assigned a planet in the solar system, starting with Mercury (the closest to the Sun) for your #1 best friend and ending with Neptune (the furthest) for your 8th closest friend.
How the Snapchat Planets Order Works
Here’s how Snapchat organizes the planets:
Mercury – Your #1 best friend
Venus – #2 best friend
Earth – #3 best friend
Mars – #4 best friend
Jupiter – #5 best friend
Saturn – #6 best friend
Uranus – #7 best friend
Neptune – #8 best friend
Each planet not only appears next to the friend’s Bitmoji but also has distinct colors and symbols to represent them. For instance, Mercury is orange with hearts, while Neptune is deep blue with stars. These visual cues make it easy to identify who ranks where in your universe of friendships.
Why Is Everyone Talking About Snapchat Planets?
1. It’s Visually Engaging and Creative
Social media thrives on unique visuals, and Snapchat Planets delivers exactly that. The planetary graphics are fun, colorful, and aesthetically pleasing. For many users, they’re just enjoyable to look at.
2. It Adds a Layer of Curiosity
People are naturally curious about where they stand in others’ lives. This feature feeds that curiosity in a lighthearted way. It sparks conversations and sometimes even drama, as people ask questions like, "Why am I only your Jupiter and not Mercury?"
3. It’s Perfect for Sharing on Social Media
The visual nature of Snapchat Planets makes it perfect for screenshots and sharing on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Many users post their planetary order and reactions, which only fuels the trend’s visibility.
4. Exclusivity Creates Buzz
Only Snapchat Plus subscribers can access this feature, making it feel exclusive. That exclusivity adds a level of prestige and makes non-subscribers curious, which further fuels online discussions.
5. It Gamifies Friendships
Snapchat Planets turns ordinary friend interactions into a game. The idea that your digital behavior influences your friend’s planetary ranking adds a layer of fun and challenge.
Impact on Social Dynamics
While the Snapchat Planets order is playful and entertaining, it also reflects real behavioral patterns. Snapchat’s algorithm analyzes various interaction metrics like:
How often you snap or chat with someone
How quickly you respond
Whether you view their stories
How frequently you send stickers or Bitmojis
These subtle cues determine a person's position in your friend solar system. For many users, especially teens and young adults, the order of planets can influence how they perceive their social standing or how much attention they give to certain friends.
Concerns and Controversies
1. Friendship Anxiety
Some users report feeling anxious or even left out when they don’t see themselves in a top spot on a friend’s planets. Social media already creates pressure to maintain appearances, and this feature adds another layer to it.
2. Privacy Implications
Although the Planets feature is private (only the user can see their own order), it still raises questions about data usage and surveillance of personal interactions.
3. Encouraging Subscription
Critics argue that the feature is just a marketing strategy to push Snapchat+ subscriptions, which costs users around $3.99 per month. While this isn’t inherently negative, it does create a tiered user experience that not everyone supports.
How to Access Snapchat Planets
To use the Snapchat Planets feature, you need to be a Snapchat+ subscriber. Here’s how to activate it:
Open Snapchat and go to your profile.
Tap the Snapchat+ banner or subscription icon.
Subscribe to Snapchat+ (if you haven’t already).
Navigate to your "Best Friends" badge and tap it.
You’ll now see a solar system animation showing your Snapchat Planets.
Other Features That Come with Snapchat+
Snapchat Planets is just one part of the Snapchat+ offering. When you subscribe, you also gain access to:
Story Rewatch Count
Ghost Trails (viewing location history)
Custom App Icons
Friend Solar Systems (a.k.a. Snapchat Planets)
Priority Story Replies
These additional features add more personalization and control over your Snapchat experience.
Snapchat Planets and Digital Culture
In today’s fast-paced digital culture, any feature that offers a mix of personalization, visuals, and shareability tends to go viral. Snapchat Planets ticks all those boxes. It aligns perfectly with the way younger generations communicate—through symbols, visuals, and rankings.
More than just a gimmick, the feature reflects broader cultural shifts. People crave interaction metrics, whether it’s likes, views, or now—planetary positions. It turns friendship into something trackable, which is both fascinating and revealing.
Final Thoughts
Snapchat Planets isn’t just a quirky feature; it’s a mirror to how we engage with friends in the digital age. It’s fun, dramatic, sometimes controversial, and undeniably addictive.
Whether you're checking to see if you’re someone's Mercury or just enjoying the cosmic vibes, the Snapchat Planets feature taps into our social instincts in a way that's uniquely modern. It’s no wonder that it’s become a cultural phenomenon.
If you haven’t explored it yet, and you’re already a Snapchat Plus subscriber—or thinking of becoming one—it’s definitely worth checking out.
FAQs
Q1: What is the Snapchat Planets feature? A: It's a Snapchat+ feature that visualizes your top 8 friends as planets orbiting around you, the "Sun," in order of interaction.
Q2: How does Snapchat decide the planets order? A: The order is based on how frequently you interact with friends—snaps, chats, views, and engagement metrics.
Q3: Is the planets order visible to other users? A: No, the Snapchat Planets order is only visible to the user, not to the friends ranked.
Q4: Can I change my friends' planet positions? A: No, the rankings are algorithm-based and automatically updated.
Q5: Do I need Snapchat+ to use this feature? A: Yes, Snapchat Planets is exclusively available to Snapchat+ subscribers.
