Snapchat has always been a place for private chats and quick photo messages. Now the company is trying something new. It is adding a feature called Topic Chats that will bring public conversations to the platform. With this change, Snapchat wants to help people talk about trending topics, popular shows, sports, and anything that is currently capturing attention online.
What makes this move interesting is that Snapchat is trying to balance public conversations with strong privacy controls. Profiles will stay private. Even if someone sees your message in a Topic Chat, they cannot tap through to view your profile. They will only see your display name. Snapchat also confirmed that display names cannot be used to search for someone, so this helps reduce unwanted requests or spam messages. This approach keeps the public chat experience safer and more controlled compared to other social platforms.
Snapchat says it will rely on LLM technology and other safety tools to keep Topic Chats clean and respectful. All messages must follow the company’s Community Guidelines. If someone breaks the rules, Snapchat can warn them or even block their account. Users will also have the option to report messages that they feel are inappropriate. Safety has always been one of Snapchat’s strong points, and the company seems committed to maintaining that.
The company also believes Topic Chats will help people find common interests. You will be able to see which chats your friends have joined. This could encourage more meaningful conversations because you will discover what your friends are interested in. Along with text messages, these chatrooms will show related Spotlight videos, which are Snapchat’s short-form clips similar to TikTok videos.
The company also believes Topic Chats will help people find common interests. You will be able to see which chats your friends have joined. This could encourage more meaningful conversations because you will discover what your friends are interested in. Along with text messages, these chatrooms will show related Spotlight videos, which are Snapchat’s short-form clips similar to TikTok videos.
Until now, public conversations on Snapchat were mostly limited to Spotlight comments. The company says it noticed how active people were in public comment sections, and this inspired them to build a separate feature for group conversations around trending moments. According to Snapchat, users create billions of Snaps every day, and many of them enjoy talking about events happening around the world. Topic Chats aims to give these discussions a proper home inside the app.
Topic Chats will first roll out in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. Users in these regions will start seeing them in Chat shortcuts, search, Stories, and Spotlight. If you see a large yellow “Join the Chat” button on a Story or Spotlight video, you can tap it to enter the chatroom.
Snapchat will keep messages in Topic Chats for up to five years, which is quite different from its usual disappearing-message style. But since these are public conversations, the company wants a longer record for safety and moderation.
