Snapchat Streaks: Do numbers define our friendships?

Source: Linkedin.com

You see the ‘timer’ emoji next to someone’s name and a wave of panic washes over you, we have all been there.

We have the likes on Instagram, we have the views on your ‘story’, but the one metric that has trumped them all, something many teens live and die by, is the streak. The Snapchat streak is a feature built into the Snapchat app. The ‘fire’ emoji appears next to a friend’s name, meaning you and that very special person have both managed to snap one another within 24 hours for at least 

three consecutive days. Perhaps your friendship is on fire. Impressive, right?

I remember earning my first streak sometime mid-way last year. I was late to the party, I know, but it is hard to ignore that as a result of that streak, my use of Snapchat skyrocketed. Soon I wanted streaks with all my friends. Now, I spend on average 1.8 hours on screen using Snapchat on a 24 hours basis, which, for me, is shocking to say the least. I believe that this dramatic increase in my use of Snapchat is majorly down to the streaks feature. Streaks have only one purpose: to get you to use Snapchat more. 

Many people have adopted the view that their streak score is cold hard evidence of unbreakable friendships. It is this mind-set that causes streaks to become so addictive. People are afraid to lose their 200 day streak, perhaps believing their friendship will suffer as a result and to be frank, no one wants to lose what they have worked so long for. For many people, the longer the streak, the better the friendship.  But have snap streaks become just another routine of daily life online?

Though there are those who keep up streaks to maintain contact with a friend, ensuring a conversation is shared every day, there is a large portion of Snapchat users for whom streaks have become almost like business. We see this in those blank snaps, or those with an ‘S’ for streak drawn in red, and it is usually in these transactions that communication is almost non-existent but the streak continues to live, proving that numbers do not correlate to the quality of a friendship in every case. Maintenance has become such an important issue, that it isn’t unusual to see someone logging into their friends Snapchat to keep their streaks going – for example if they are on a flight. You eventually end up with people in charge of masses of streaks, all in the name of friendship and popularity.

Despite my belief that the length of a streak does not define the quality of a friendship, I will say that the streak feature is a somewhat powerful force in developing some friendships. As you begin to snap someone more and more each day, users usually find they are more comfortable with that person. For example, someone I regularly snap, and might even have a streak with, will receive far less polished selfies than perhaps someone I do not snap as often. It is in this respect that the idea of a streak can lead to certain barriers, in terms of appearance, to come down.

All in all, streaks are a pretty harmless thing and can be fun to uphold, but when friendships suffer as a result of a streak breaking, well, maybe that’s a problem. 

Thank you for reading!

Aman