The Snapchat solar system continues to captivate millions of users in 2025, serving as a unique way to visualize friendship rankings through planetary positions. Snapchat+ had seven million paid subscribers in 2023 and had been increased to 9 million users in the first quarter of 2025, making this premium feature more accessible than ever.
This innovative feature transforms your closest Snapchat connections into a cosmic display, where each friend represents a different planet based on your interaction frequency. Despite initial controversy, the solar system has evolved into one of Snapchat’s most engaging premium features.
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Understanding the Snapchat Friend Solar System
As a Snapchat+ subscriber, you’ll see a ‘Best Friends’ badge with a gold ring around it on someone’s Friendship Profile. This badge indicates you’re among their eight closest friends, represented through planetary positions in their personal solar system.
The system works by analyzing your communication patterns, including snaps sent, messages exchanged, and story interactions. Your position changes dynamically based on recent activity, creating an ever-evolving friendship map.
A friend of mine was “Earth” and then suddenly became “Mercury” when I was sharing daily updates and supporting each other through big events in our lives, demonstrating how real relationship changes reflect in the digital space.
Key Points Summary
🪐 Planet Rankings: Mercury (#1) to Neptune (#8) represent your friendship strength
🔄 Dynamic Updates: Rankings change based on recent interactions and activity
💰 Premium Feature: Requires Snapchat+ subscription to access and view
⚙️ Privacy Control: Can be disabled in settings for users who prefer privacy
📱 Visual Appeal: Colorful planetary display makes friendship tracking engaging
Complete Planet Order and Meanings
The Snapchat solar system follows the traditional planetary order from our actual solar system, with each position representing your friendship rank:
Mercury (Position #1): Your absolute best friend on Snapchat. You exchange the most snaps, messages, and interact most frequently with this person.
Venus (Position #2): Your second-closest friend. High interaction levels but slightly less than your Mercury friend.
Earth (Position #3): Third in your friendship hierarchy. Regular communication and strong connection.
Mars (Position #4): Fourth-ranked friend with consistent but moderate interaction levels.
Jupiter (Position #5): Mid-tier friendship with regular but less frequent communication.
Saturn (Position #6): Sixth position indicating good friendship with periodic interactions.
Uranus (Position #7): Seventh-ranked friend with occasional but meaningful exchanges.
Neptune (Position #8): Your eighth-closest friend, representing the outer edge of your core friendship circle.
Recent Updates and Controversy Resolution
Following concerns about teenage anxiety, Snap says it has received feedback that it can feel good to know you’re close to someone but it can also feel bad to know you aren’t as close as you’d like to be. The company responded by making the feature opt-in rather than automatically enabled.
Snapchat has demoted its controversial Solar System feature following user complaints and concerns about its negative impact on younger users. However, the feature remains popular among users who choose to enable it, with enhanced privacy controls and clearer explanations about its purpose.
How to Access Your Solar System Rankings
To view your position in someone’s solar system, navigate to their profile and look for the Best Friends badge. Tapping this badge reveals your planetary position and provides context about your friendship ranking.
You can turn off Snapchat planets by going to Snapchat Plus settings and toggling off the Solar System feature if you prefer not to participate in this ranking system.
Impact on Digital Relationships
Snapchat Plus subscribers can learn about their social dynamics through this celestial display. They can spot which friendships need more attention and which ones stay strong consistently. This insight helps users understand their communication patterns and potentially strengthen important relationships.
The feature serves as both entertainment and relationship insight, though experts recommend focusing on quality over quantity when building meaningful connections.
Privacy and Mental Health Considerations
Understanding that friendship rankings can create pressure, Snapchat has implemented several safeguards. Users can disable the feature entirely, and the company provides clear guidelines about healthy social media usage.
Don’t let Snapchat planets become some toxic competition that strains your self-worth. True friendship can’t be quantified by an app. The feature works best when viewed as entertainment rather than a definitive measure of relationship value.
The Snapchat solar system represents a fascinating intersection of technology and human relationships, offering users a playful way to visualize their closest connections while maintaining important privacy controls and mental health awareness. Share your thoughts about this feature and how it’s impacted your Snapchat experience in the comments below.