Snapchat loves it when you spend time chatting and exchanging snaps with your friends.
The platform rewards you with Snapscores for sending, receiving and adding Snaps to your story. It also offers streaks to encourage daily snapping with friends. But apart from this, it also offers a subtle feature that makes your snapping experience easier: the recent list.
To encourage you to spend more time, Snap makes it easy for you to send Snaps to your closest friends. So, when you capture a snap and try to send it to your friends, the app shows you a list of recent friends to choose from.
However, Snapchat features are known for their confusing nature, and the latest list is no exception. The list will show you friends with whom you actively chat or snap. However, once in a while, it can also show you friends you’ve never talked to.
Why does Snapchat put these friends in your recent list? Is this due to a bug? Or are there other terms that users see in this list, even if you’ve never spoken to them? Read on to get the answers.
What does recent mean on Snapchat?
There are two places in the Snapchat app where you can look recent Section There is a recent section that appears on the search screen. This section shows the users you have recently searched for.
Another recent list you can see instantly and send it to your friends. To clarify, this is the list we are going to discuss in this blog.
Typically, this list contains the names of friends with whom you often exchange snaps and texts, so you can easily send snaps to these friends. However, when the list starts showing friends you rarely talk to or have never talked to, the resulting confusion is natural. Skip to the next section to find out why Snapchat includes those friends in the list.
Why are your Snapchat recent people showing up when you haven’t talked to them?
The confusion surrounding the latest list is due to a simple reason – a misunderstanding of its meaning. The name “Recent” makes you think it has something to do with the people you’ve recently snapped or chatted with. However, this is only partially true.
The reasons why certain friends appear in the recent list are not limited to snaps and texts. Some other interactions can also get someone on the list. Let’s see these reasons below.
Reason 1: They sent you a snap
You don’t always need to send a Snap to someone to add them to your recent list. If a friend can appear in the list they Send you a snap. Snapchat takes into account any incoming or outgoing interactions between the two of you. So, even if you don’t reply to a Snap they sent you, a friend may appear in the list because they sent you a Snap.
Note: Even if a friend deletes a snap after sending it, it will remain in the list.
Reason 2: They texted you
Getting a text from a friend can have the same effect as getting a Snap. So, if someone has sent you a message recently, it will appear in your recent list regardless of whether you reply. As in the case of Snap, the message will remain in the list even if the user deletes it after sending it.
Reason 3: They added you back (or vice versa)
As mentioned earlier, texts and snaps aren’t the only ones responsible for bringing users to your recent list. A user may also appear in the list because you recently became friends with them. This can happen either way—whether you added them back or they added you.
In other words, a user can appear in the recent list if you have recently added them back or if they have recently added you back. It doesn’t matter if either of you sent a snap or a text to the other person.
Reason 4: They responded to your story
A story reply is another interaction that can affect the recent list. If a friend replies to your Snapchat story, they can immediately appear in your Recents list. The same can happen when you respond to their story. A reply to a story may not be the usual text or snap you exchange with friends. But since it’s also a form of communication, Snapchat considers it a worthy factor.
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