What are Snapchat Planets? Order and Meaning (2024)

Snapchat‘s planet system has become one of the app‘s most talked-about features among its 750 million monthly active users. If you‘ve noticed colorful planets appearing next to your friends‘ profiles and wondered what they mean, you‘re not alone. This unique feature has sparked curiosity across social media, with users eager to understand the cosmic significance of their Snapchat friendships.

In this guide, we‘ll explore everything about Snapchat Planets in 2024 – from their order and meaning to how they reflect your closest connections on the platform. Let‘s dive into this digital solar system and what it reveals about your Snapchat relationships.

What Are Snapchat Planets?

Snapchat Planets are part of the "Friend Solar System" feature that launched in mid-2023 as an exclusive perk for Snapchat+ subscribers. This feature creates a miniature solar system that visually represents your friendship dynamics on the platform.

In this system, you are the Sun – the center of your Snapchat universe. Your eight closest friends on the app are assigned different planets based on your interaction frequency, with the closest friend receiving Mercury (nearest to the Sun) and your eighth closest friend getting Neptune (farthest from the Sun).

The planet assignments aren‘t static – they shift based on your changing interaction patterns. A friend who was once Jupiter might move closer to become Venus if you start exchanging more snaps with them.

According to Snapchat‘s internal data, over 80% of Snapchat+ subscribers actively check their Friend Solar System at least once weekly, making it one of the subscription‘s most engaging features.

The Origins of Snapchat‘s Solar System

The Planets feature wasn‘t created overnight. Snapchat‘s development team spent nearly 9 months refining the concept before its official release. According to former Snapchat developer Rachel Chen in a 2023 Medium article, the team experimented with multiple visualization methods before settling on the solar system metaphor:

"We tested friendship clouds, friendship trees, and even friendship constellations before landing on the solar system concept. The planetary model resonated best with test users because it intuitively conveyed both closeness and hierarchy."

The feature was initially tested with a small group of 50,000 users in March 2023 before rolling out to all Snapchat+ subscribers in June 2023. During this testing phase, user engagement with the app increased by 22% among those with access to the planets feature.

The Complete Snapchat Planet Order (2024)

The Snapchat planet order follows our actual solar system, with each planet representing a different level of friendship closeness. Here‘s the complete breakdown of all eight planets in order:

1. Mercury: Your #1 Best Friend

Mercury sits closest to the Sun in both our solar system and your Snapchat universe. When someone is assigned Mercury, it means they‘re your absolute best friend on Snapchat.

Visual appearance: Mercury appears as a reddish planet surrounded by five red hearts and various emoji animations.

What it means: This person exchanges the most snaps with you, views your stories consistently, and maintains the highest Snapchat interaction rate with your account. According to Snapchat‘s metrics, Mercury friends typically exchange 70% more content than other connections.

Interaction threshold: Based on reverse engineering by social media analysts, Mercury status typically requires 30+ interactions weekly, including snaps, chats, and story views.

2. Venus: Your Second-Closest Friend

Venus represents your second-closest friend on Snapchat, the person who almost made it to Mercury status.

Visual appearance: Venus displays as a light brown planet encircled by yellow, pink, and blue hearts.

What it means: This friend consistently interacts with your content but at a slightly lower frequency than your Mercury friend. They‘re still a major part of your Snapchat experience, typically exchanging snaps with you multiple times daily.

Interaction threshold: Venus typically requires 20-29 weekly interactions.

3. Earth: Your Third-Closest Friend

Earth represents your third most active Snapchat friendship.

Visual appearance: Earth looks similar to our actual planet with blue and green coloration, accompanied by a moon, stars, and red hearts.

What it means: This friend maintains regular communication with you but might not be as constant as your Mercury or Venus friends. They likely view most of your stories and exchange snaps several times weekly.

Interaction threshold: Earth typically requires 15-19 weekly interactions.

4. Mars: Your Fourth-Closest Friend

Mars represents your fourth most active friendship on Snapchat.

Visual appearance: Mars appears as a red planet surrounded by stars and purple and blue hearts.

What it means: This friendship shows consistent interaction but with less frequency than your top three. Mars friends typically engage with your content a few times per week.

Interaction threshold: Mars typically requires 10-14 weekly interactions.

5. Jupiter: Your Fifth-Closest Friend

Jupiter represents your fifth most active Snapchat relationship.

Visual appearance: Jupiter displays as a reddish-orange planet with dark orange stripes and colorful stars surrounding it.

What it means: This friendship maintains moderate activity levels. Jupiter friends might not interact daily but still maintain a regular presence in your Snapchat experience.

Interaction threshold: Jupiter typically requires 7-9 weekly interactions.

6. Saturn: Your Sixth-Closest Friend

Saturn represents your sixth most active friendship on the platform.

Visual appearance: Saturn appears as an orange planet with its iconic ring and stars floating nearby.

What it means: This friendship shows occasional but not consistent interaction. Saturn friends might go days between exchanges but still maintain enough contact to stay in your top eight.

Interaction threshold: Saturn typically requires 5-6 weekly interactions.

7. Uranus: Your Seventh-Closest Friend

Uranus represents your seventh most active Snapchat relationship.

Visual appearance: Uranus displays as a green planet with glittering emoji effects but notably lacks the hearts seen around closer planets.

What it means: This friendship shows intermittent activity. The absence of hearts in the visual design signals a more casual connection compared to your closer friends.

Interaction threshold: Uranus typically requires 3-4 weekly interactions.

8. Neptune: Your Eighth-Closest Friend

Neptune is the final planet, representing your eighth most active friendship.

Visual appearance: Neptune appears as a blue planet with wavy textures and no hearts surrounding it.

What it means: This friendship maintains just enough interaction to make your top eight but with minimal regular engagement. Neptune friends might view your stories occasionally but exchange direct snaps infrequently.

Interaction threshold: Neptune typically requires 1-2 weekly interactions.

The Technical Side: How Snapchat Determines Planet Assignments

Many users wonder exactly how Snapchat decides which friends get assigned to which planets. While Snapchat hasn‘t revealed their exact algorithm, data analysis suggests the following factors influence planet assignments:

Primary Factors in Planet Assignment

1. Snap frequency – The number of snaps exchanged between users
2. Streak maintenance – How consistently you maintain Snapstreaks
3. Story views – How often you view each other‘s stories
4. Chat activity – The frequency and length of text conversations
5. Interaction recency – How recently you‘ve engaged with each other
6. Mutual interaction – Whether engagement is one-sided or reciprocal

The algorithm appears to weight recent activity more heavily than historical patterns, which explains why planet assignments can shift quickly when interaction patterns change.

The Weighting System

Through analysis of planet movements across hundreds of user accounts, data scientists have estimated the approximate weighting system Snapchat uses:

These points appear to decay over time, with interactions from the past 24 hours counting fully, interactions from 2-3 days ago counting at 75%, and interactions from 4-7 days ago counting at 50%. Interactions older than a week seem to have minimal impact on current planet assignments.

Time-Based Algorithm Adjustments

The planet algorithm also appears to have time-based adjustments:

• Weekend boost: Interactions on weekends seem to carry approximately 10% more weight than weekday interactions
• Time zone compensation: The algorithm appears to adjust for time zone differences between users
• Inactivity adjustment: Extended periods of inactivity (3+ days) seem to trigger a recalculation with a higher threshold for maintaining previous planet positions

Demographic Analysis: Who Uses Snapchat Planets?

Snapchat‘s internal data, combined with third-party research, reveals interesting patterns about who engages most with the Planets feature:

Age Distribution of Planets Feature Users

Gender Distribution

While Snapchat‘s overall user base skews slightly female (54% female, 46% male according to 2023 data), Planets feature engagement shows a more pronounced gender difference:

• Female users: 61% of Planets feature engagement
• Male users: 39% of Planets feature engagement

This suggests female users find more value in tracking friendship dynamics through the feature.

Regional Adoption Rates

The Planets feature shows varying adoption rates across regions:

How to View Your Snapchat Friend Solar System

To check which planets your friends occupy in your solar system, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you have an active Snapchat+ subscription
2. Open the Snapchat app
3. Swipe right from the camera screen to access your friends list
4. Press and hold on a friend‘s Bitmoji or profile icon
5. Select "View Friendship" from the menu
6. Look for either the "Best Friends" or "Friends" badge under their username
7. Tap on the badge to reveal their planet assignment

If you see a "Friends" badge, it means they‘re in your top eight friends but you‘re not in theirs. A "Best Friends" badge indicates mutual top-eight status.

Troubleshooting Common Access Issues

If you‘re having trouble viewing your planets, try these solutions:

1. Subscription verification: Confirm your Snapchat+ subscription is active by checking your profile settings
2. App updates: Ensure you‘re running the latest version of Snapchat
3. Account activity: The planets feature requires sufficient friend interaction to generate assignments
4. Cache clearing: Try clearing your app cache in your device settings
5. Reinstallation: As a last resort, reinstall the app while logged out, then log back in

Understanding Mutual Planet Assignments

An interesting aspect of Snapchat Planets is that assignments aren‘t always reciprocal. Your Mercury friend might have you as their Venus, Mars, or even Neptune. This happens because each person‘s interaction patterns differ.

For example, if you send 50 snaps daily to someone who only sends you 5 snaps daily, they might be your Mercury while you‘re their Jupiter. This asymmetry often reveals interesting dynamics about who initiates more contact in friendships.

Some users report checking their planet status in friends‘ solar systems as a way to gauge relationship dynamics. According to a recent survey of Snapchat+ users, 65% admitted to feeling disappointed when discovering they weren‘t as high in a friend‘s planetary ranking as that friend was in theirs.

The Psychology Behind Planet Status

Dr. Megan Woodward, a social media psychologist at Northwestern University, explains the psychological impact of these asymmetrical relationships:

"The Snapchat Planets feature taps into our fundamental need for reciprocity in relationships. When users discover they‘re a distant planet in someone‘s system while that person is their Mercury, it creates cognitive dissonance that can lead to behavioral changes – either increased effort to ‘move closer‘ or emotional withdrawal from the relationship."

Her research found that 47% of users increased their interaction frequency after discovering they were positioned farther away in a friend‘s solar system than they expected.

Planet Movements and Friendship Dynamics

Your Snapchat solar system isn‘t static – planets can shift positions as your interaction patterns change. Here‘s how planet movements typically work:

• Promotion: When interaction increases with a friend, they move to a planet closer to the Sun
• Demotion: When interaction decreases, they move to a planet farther from the Sun
• Ejection: When interaction drops significantly, they may leave your solar system entirely
• New entry: A previously unranked friend can enter your solar system at any position based on sudden increased activity

These movements aren‘t instantaneous – Snapchat appears to analyze patterns over several days before adjusting planet positions. This prevents temporary changes in communication (like during vacations) from immediately reshuffling your entire solar system.

Velocity of Planet Changes

Analysis of planet movement patterns suggests the following timelines for position changes:

Seasonal Patterns in Planet Movement

Interestingly, Snapchat planet movements show seasonal patterns that reflect broader social behaviors:

• Summer acceleration: Planet positions change 30% faster during summer months when users typically have more free time
• Holiday clustering: During major holidays, inner planets tend to stabilize as users focus communication on close friends and family
• Academic calendar effects: For users in the 13-22 age range, planet movements slow by approximately 15% during exam periods

Snapchat Planets vs. Other Social Media Friendship Indicators

Snapchat has multiple ways of displaying friendship connections. Here‘s how planets compare to other friendship indicators:

The planet system offers the most detailed friendship hierarchy of all these features, which explains its popularity among Snapchat+ subscribers who want deeper insights into their social connections.

The Cultural Impact of Snapchat Planets

Since its introduction, the Snapchat Planets feature has created interesting social dynamics among users:

Social Behaviors Influenced by Planets

• Planet status anxiety: Some users report feeling pressure to maintain higher planet positions with certain friends
• Friendship competitions: Friends sometimes compete to become each other‘s Mercury
• Social experiments: Users intentionally changing interaction patterns to see how quickly planets shift
• Relationship insights: Couples using planet positions as informal indicators of relationship health

The feature has even spawned TikTok trends where users reveal their surprise at discovering their planet rankings in friends‘ solar systems, with some videos garnering millions of views.

Content Creator Adoption

Content creators have