Snapchat Score: Meaning, How It Works & How to Increase It

Snapchat score is a number that appears below your name on your profile screen. It is determined by a number of factors that include the number of snaps sent, received, stories posted and other ‘super-secret’ factors.

While no other social networking app maintains a score to rank its users, Snapchat has kept this feature since its inception without any clear agenda or purpose. Suffice to say, it has piqued people’s interests.

I have studied how this scoring system works in the past, and have written several posts explaining how it works, how to increase your snap score and how the so-called snapchat score hacks work.

But things have certainly changed over the past couple of years, and I am inclined to write yet another post on how the new snapchat scoring system works based on actual experiments that I conducted myself.

What Does Snapchat Score Mean?

In my previous articles, I’ve written that Snapchat score simply means the total number of snaps sent and received. This, however, is not true anymore. Snapchat has updated its scoring algorithm to reflect other factors, including Stories.

Snapchat score, also sometimes called Snap score, appears below your name on Snapchat. To reveal it, go to your Profile Screen in the Snapchat app. The number that appears next to your username is your Snapchat score.

If you tap on this number or your username, two numbers will appear. The number on the left is the total number of snaps you have received, and the number on the right is the total number of snaps you have sent to others.

These numbers, when added together, however will NOT tally up to your Snap score, thus implying the involvement of other factors in determining the final Snap score.

In this experiment, we shall try to find out what these other ‘super-secret’ factors are.

How Does Snapchat Score Work?

For this case-study, I have sent out 3 snaps (photos and videos) to 3 random friends. And sure enough, I see an increase in my Snapchat score by 3 points.

I then asked 2 of my friends to sent me snaps. And as expected, my Snap score increased by 2 points when I opened these snaps.

As is evident from this, your Snapchat score increases by 1 point for every snap you sent or received/opened.

Does it increase even if the recipient does not open his or her snap? To find out, I sent out several snaps to celebrity accounts that I follow – Kylie Jenner, Ariana Grande and Khloe Kardashian. I know for a fact that these people aren’t going to open my snaps. And the result? My Snap score increases by 1 point for each snap.

The above experiment is done on snaps, that is photos and videos.

What about chats/direct messages? Do chat messages increase your Snapchat score?

The answer is a resounding NO. I sent out several text messages (chats) to my friends, but saw no increase in my snap score whatsoever. That then rules out direct messages completely as one of the factors in determining one’s Snapchat score.

The third factor is Stories. How do Stories affect your Snapchat score? And does posting to ‘Our Story’ and ‘My Story’ affect your score differently?

According to the results of my little experiment, I can conclude that you get 1 point for every 2 Stories you post. And it does not matter whether you post to ‘My Story’ or ‘Our Story’; for every 2 Stories that is posted, we are awarded with 1 point to our Snapchat score. Opening and viewing Stories of your friends and people that you follow, however, does not increase your Snapchat score.

There may be other ‘super-secret’ factors that Snapchat use in determining one’s score, according to their website, but the above-mentioned factors are the most common ones, and even if these other factors do exist, they have very little impact on one’s Snap score. If ever you figure out what these ‘secret’ factors are, do let us know in the comments so we can update this post accordingly.

So, to summarize, here’s how Snapchat score works:

• You get 1 point for each snap you send.
• You get 1 point for each snap you receive/open.
• You get 1 point for every 2 stories you post.
• You do not get points for chats (direct messages).
• You do not get points for stories you view.

What is the purpose of Snap score? What does it do?

Snapchat scores are a measure of one’s activity on Snapchat. It keeps track of the number of all snaps sent and received. It keeps a measure of the number of Stories posted. While this number in itself does not mean much, it is a tracking mechanism of sorts for most of your activities on Snapchat.

And although it is unclear how having a high Snap score benefits you, there are a few that are worth mentioning:

Unlocking trophies: Depending on your total score, there are trophies to be unlocked in the Snapchat app.

Authority: Having a high Snapchat score establishes that you are a frequent and avid user of the app, making you an authority of sorts when it comes to Snapchat. It serves as a badge stating that you are a ‘bad-ass’ Snapchatter, if that makes any sense.

How to Increase Your Snapchat Score Faster

There are a few ways you can increase your Snapchat score drastically without annoying your friends:

1. Sending multi-snaps to celebrity accounts
2. Sending multi-snaps to yourself
3. Using hacks/bots
4. Buying Snapchat scores

As has been clearly established, Snapchat scores increase only when you send or open snaps and when you post to your Story. This means that the surest way of increasing your Snapchat score faster is by sending out a lot of snaps.

Now, if you send out a lot of snaps to your friends simply to increase your score, your friends are going to get annoyed; they may even block you. And if you post stories upon stories, people that follow you are going to eventually mute you.

So, how can you increase your Snapchat score without annoying your friends?

By spamming celebrities. I do have to admit it’s not the most elegant solution, but it’s the easiest way you to increase your Snap score.

Celebrities rarely, if at all, check snaps from their followers. I mean, with 12.8 million subscribers, I hardly think Selena Gomez is going to open a bunch of snaps from me.

Follow as many celebrities as possible by tapping on the ‘Search’ icon at the top and typing out their names. You might see a bunch of fake accounts. Ignore all these and Subscribe to the verified account, marked by a star. Upon subscribing to one celebrity, you will see a list of similar celebrities to subscribe to; follow all of these accounts too.

Now, go to your home (camera) screen in the Snapchat app and toggle on the Multi Snap feature. The Multi Snap icon can be found by tapping on the more icon (below the Moon icon) on your home screen.

Multi Snap allows you to capture upto 8 snaps in rapid succession.

Send these 8 snaps to all the public profiles (celebrities) that you subscribed to by tapping on their names.

Let us do a quick math here. Say, you follow 30 public profiles and have sent 8 snaps (multi snap) to them. That’s an easy 240 points in under a minute. If you repeat this every 30 minutes or so, you could easily increase your Snapchat score by more than 10,000 points in a day. Imagine if you followed 100 profiles and sent out a multi snap just 30 times in one day, that’s 24,000 points.

What’s more, once you have sent out snaps to a selected list of people, you can easily send out more snaps to the same group of people without having to manually select their names from your list again. You can do this by tapping on Last Snap under Recents after you have captured your photos or videos. Your new set of snaps will automatically be sent to the same group of people that you spammed the last time around.

Don’t feel like spamming your favorite celebrities? Well you can spam yourself to increase your Snap score.

Log out of your primary account and create a second Snapchat account. Be friends with each other (both accounts), and send as many multi snaps as you want to each other, without every having to worry about being blocked or reported by the other.

The third option we’ll be discussing is by using hacks and bots.

Snapchat Score Hack

Snapchat score hacks, also called Snapchat score generators, are scripts that can automate the process of sending and opening snaps in rapid succession to increase your points. While there are certain reliable hacks out there, many of these so-called hacks or generators are merely tricks to entice you to complete a survey or an offer in order for the them to make some money off you.

The fact of the matter is, there is just no way to hack into Snapchat and change its scoring algorithm to reflect a higher score on your profile. To even attempt that makes no sense for the hacker.

What you’ll often see, when looking for Snapchat score hacks, are websites and videos falsely claiming they can increase your score, however requiring you to install a third-party app or completing a CPA offer.

CPA means cost per action/acquisition. It means that when you install an app or complete a survey in order to increase your Snap score via the so-called ‘hack’, the owner of the website or app is making money. It’s what shady internet marketers do.

They would post alleged photo and video proofs, which often times are screenshots photoshopped to display higher numbers, and direct you to a website or app. These websites would then ask for your username, sometimes letting you choose the number of points you want to generate. Upon submission, a fancy loading bar and an array of codes and made-up words will appear on a console-like screen to imitate a real hacking scenario. Are you fooled yet?

You will then be required to click on a button to finish the hacking process, which will of however take you to an offers page. You would be required to complete at least one offer (complete a survey, sign-up or install an app) to proceed thence. You might be tempted to complete the offer to get the snapchat points. But don’t be fooled, you will only be redirected to another vague page or offer, without seeing any increase in your snap score whatsoever.

The lesson here is that nothing really is free in the internet. While there may be genuine hacks and generators, it is highly unlikely that these would come free of charge.

Of course those that have found work-arounds and actual generators sell their services.

Buy Snapchat Score

There are many sellers from whom you could buy Snapchat scores. While some of them could simply take your money and run, there are some that definitely know what they are doing. We are compiling a list of the most reliable snapchat score sellers. Please note that we may earn commissions from your purchases as affiliates of the service providers.

Frequently Asked Questions about Snap Scores

This list of FAQs is updated on a constant basis, so if there’s any question you would like to ask, feel free to do so in the comments section and we’ll try our best to answer them.

What does the number on Snapchat mean?

The number on Snapchat that appears next to your username is your Score. Snapchat keeps track of the number of snaps you send, receive and stories you post. For every snap you send or open, you get 1 point. For every 2 stories you post, you get another point. These points when added up makes your score which is the number that appears on your Snapchat profile screen.

Snapchat score not updating?

Snapchat scores are updated on a sessions basis. If your score is not updating in real time, you might want to close your Snapchat app and open it again. This should bring your scores up to date.

If this doesn’t work, there’s probably a bug. Update your app to the latest version. If you’re using the latest version and your Snap score is still not updating, the engineers at Snap Inc. are probably working on it for bug fixes. Give it a day or two and update your app to the latest version again.

My boyfriend/girlfriend’s Snapchat score keeps going up.

There are only three reasons why a Snapchat score ever goes up – when you send a snap, when you open a snap and when you post a story.

If your boyfriend or girlfriend isn’t snapping you and isn’t posting to his or her story, it simply means that he/she is exchanging snaps with other people. Perhaps it’s time to change partners.

Can you make your score private on Snapchat?

Snapchat scores are private. It is visible only to people that you’re friends with (who added you and whom you have added/accepted in return). It is not visible to the public and is not displayed on your public profile.

Why can’t I see a friend’s snapchat score anymore?

You can only see someone’s Snapchat score if you’re friends with each other. If you can no longer see your friend’s Snapchat score, it means that he/she has unfriended you.

What is the icon near snap score?

A small icon appears near your Snapchat score. This is your zodiac sign. Your zodiac sign is determined by your date of birth (which you filled up when signing up to Snapchat).

Can you delete or hide your snap score?

You can not delete your Snapchat score. You can however hide it from someone by unfriending him/her. You can not hide it altogether from all of your friends though.

Can Snapchat scores go down?

Snapchat scores can only go up. If your scores go down, there’s probably a glitch in the system. I’m sure the engineers at Snapchat are working on a bug-fix.

Who can see my Snap score?

Your Snapchat score is visible only to your friends. No one, other than your friends, can see your score.

How do you decrease your Snapchat score?

You can not decrease your Snap score. It can only go up, as it is a sum total of the number of snaps sent, received and stories posted.

Does the Snapchat score update instantly?

Snapchat scores update almost instantly. If it doesn’t update, close the Snapchat app and open it again. Still not updating? Close it again, wait for some time and open the app again.