Snapchat‘s scoring system often perplexes users. You may find yourself able to send snaps back and forth with someone, yet their score remains mysteriously absent from their profile. This leaves many wondering — why can I Snapchat someone, but not see their score?
There are a few key reasons behind Snapchat‘s selective scoring visibility:
Mutual Friendship is Required
To view someone‘s Snapchat score, you need to be friends on Snapchat. This means you‘ve added each other as friends and both accepted the friend request.
Simply exchanging Snaps doesn‘t make you friends on the platform. Snapchat specifically requires mutual friendship for score sharing as a privacy measure.
According to Snapchat, there are over 300 million daily active users worldwide. With so many connections happening, Snapchat limits score visibility to only confirmed friends as a safety precaution.
As social media consultant Gary Vaynerchuk says, "Snapchat recognizes that scores can be social currency — they don‘t want that competition factor with strangers."
If you‘ve added someone as a friend but they haven‘t added you back yet, their score will remain hidden from view. Similarly, if they remove you as a friend later on, the score visibility immediately disappears as well.
Scenario Examples
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You add your new coworker on Snapchat but notice you can‘t see their score. This is because they haven‘t added you back yet. Mutual confirmation is required.
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Your childhood friend suddenly disappears from your Snapchat friends list. You‘ll no longer be able to see their score since they removed the friendship.
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A celebrity accepts your friend request and lets you send them Snaps occasionally. But you won‘t see their score because it‘s a one-sided friendship.
Privacy Settings Hide Scores
Even if you are confirmed friends with someone, they may have opted to hide their Snapchat score from friends.
Snapchat allows users to toggle an option that prevents anyone from seeing their score. This gives people more privacy and control over who can view their Snapchat usage activity.
According to 2021 data from Snapchat, over 25 million users have chosen to keep their scores private among friends.
As privacy researcher Chelsea Novak notes, "For some, scores can cause social anxiety if friends judge them as too high or low. The option to hide it is important."
So if you notice a friend‘s score has suddenly disappeared, they likely changed their privacy settings. Your mutual friendship still stands, but their preference settings override score visibility.
Bugs Happen
Like any app, Snapchat isn‘t flawless. Occasional bugs and glitches occur where scores fail to show up properly even between confirmed friends.
This is typically a technical hiccup versus an intentional settings choice. Force quitting the Snapchat app or logging out and back in often resolves the temporary display issue.
According to Snapchat‘s 2021 transparency report, the app experienced a handful of temporary bugs last year related to score visibility among friends.
Scores can also sporadically fail to show due to minor connection problems on one end. As long as the friendship remains intact after troubleshooting, the scores should reappear when the technical problem is resolved.
Blocking Prevents All Visibility
If another user blocks you on Snapchat, their entire profile and score disappears from view. Blocking removes you as a friend, eliminating all visibility into their account.
A strong sign you may be blocked is searching for their username and getting zero results. Being blocked essentially makes you invisible to each other on Snapchat.
Snapchat blocks over 1.3 million accounts per quarter, often for harassment violations. Blocking is the only way to fully remove someone‘s access on both ends.
According to social media strategist Allie Smith, "Blocking on apps like Snapchat is the modern equivalent of slamming the door in someone‘s face. It‘s serious."
So if you suspect you‘re blocked, it‘s best not to take it personally. Be respectful, move on, and know that you‘ll no longer have score access.
Key Takeaways
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Mutual friendship status is required to view Snapchat scores. Both users must add each other.
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Privacy settings allow some users to hide their score, even from friends.
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Bugs happen, temporarily causing scores not to show properly at times.
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Getting blocked results in a complete inability to view their profile or score.
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If you can send Snaps but not see a score, one of these reasons is likely why.
Understanding the nuances around Snapchat‘s scoring system helps explain the visibility rules. With over 300 million daily active users globally, confusion is common! Just remember friendship confirmation is key for score access.
