Snapchat Lets Users Display Follower Counts

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SEJ STAFF Matt G. Southern

• November 3, 2020
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• 3 min read

SEJ STAFF Matt G. Southern Senior News Writer at Search Engine Journal Bio Follow

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Snapchat is finally giving users the option to display how many followers they have on their pubic profile.

Snapchat has never before shown follower counts publicly. Only users themselves know how many followers they have.

Now, users can flex their number of followers (or “subscribers”) for all to see.

This update was first discovered by social media researcher Mike Metzler who shared screenshots on Twitter.

Wow! I can add my subscriber count to my public Snapchat profile now. pic.twitter.com/fjtiNFMTLk

— Mike Metzler (@MTZLER) November 3, 2020

Kylie still might be the most followed person on Snapchat, by far? pic.twitter.com/SUaU52nO8G

— Mike Metzler (@MTZLER) November 3, 2020

Snapchat was, at one point, against the idea of publicly displaying vanity metrics such as subscribers.

The company has clearly had a change of heart since then.

To explain why this change was made, a Snapchat spokesperson provided the following comment to Tubefilter:

“We’ve listened to feedback from our creator community and many of them expressed interest in having the option to show that their community on Snapchat is growing.

So, starting today, we are giving creators the option to make subscriber counts visible on their public profiles.

We understand not every creator wants to have public metrics visible to their fans. Therefore, creators can choose to toggle this metric on and off as needed in their settings.”

Notice the emphasis on public subscriber counts being a choice.

Users who prefer to keep their subscriber counts private can still do so.

However, there are potential benefits to having the numbers out in the open.

Why Display Snapchat Subscriber Counts Publicly?

Snapchat influencers, and aspiring influencers, stand to gain the most from this update.

Having a large and/or fast-growing audience can lead to advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

Further, the size of that audience (exact number of subscribers) can impact how lucrative those opportunities are.

So that’s one good thing that could come from showing off follower counts.

There’s also the psychology of following the crowd to consider.

If people can see how many subscribers a business or brand has on Snapchat they may be more likely to follow as well.

Subscriber counts can signal to users this is a relevant business to follow and people enjoy its content.

The reverse is also true. If a business has few subscribers it may give off the impression that it’s not worth following.

That’s why some accounts may prefer to keep subscriber numbers hidden.

By making subscriber counts an option, accounts can build their numbers up before revealing them publicly.

Subscriber counts are turned off by default. Each user will have to manually activate this feature.

Snapchat Public Profiles

Showing subscriber counts is an option that’s now available to any individual user or business with a public profile.

Snapchat public profiles were just rolled out in September and are currently available only to a limited number of accounts.

Public profiles will be available to all users globally over the coming months. So everyone will soon be able to display their subscriber counts, and also gain host of other features.

With a public profile Snapchat users can add a bio, profile photo, website link, email address, location, and more.

See more about Snapchat public profiles on the official support page.

Source: Tubefilter

Category News Snapchat Read Full Bio SEJ STAFF Matt G. Southern Senior News Writer at Search Engine Journal

Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s degree in communications, ...

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