What used to be called Quick Add is now going by the much simpler and more straightforward name, Find Friends. This is our tool that helps Snapchatters add their friends on Snapchat.
This update brings our users more clarity right from the name itself about what the goal of the feature is: to help you find your real-life friends and family, or others you may know from your network! Snapchat’s core value is about deepening connections with your friends and family by offering a fun way to communicate visually, in the moment, and help people stay connected even if they are physically apart. We think Find Friends is a better way to describe what users can do through this feature.
Other than the name change, the feature continues to be designed to emphasize close and trusted connections while prioritizing user safety, especially for our younger users. For instance, teens can appear in another user’s Find Friends suggestions in limited instances, such as if they have numerous mutual friends or are in one or the other’s contact book already uploaded to Snapchat, and all users can turn off showing up in Find Friends in Settings.
Here’s a reminder of some of the other protections we have in place to help protect privacy and safety for Snapchatters:
- Accounts are Private By Default. All Snapchat accounts are private by default.
- Private Friend Lists. On Snapchat, friend lists are private for all users, this means that only the user can see their friend list, and we don’t show their friends to anyone else.
- Only Communicate with Friends. Users can only communicate with mutually accepted friends, or those whose numbers they have already saved to their contacts.
- Turn off Showing up in Find Friends. Snapchatters always have the option to turn off the ability to show up in Find Friends.
- Public Profiles. Off by default, only available to users 16 and older. Teens under 16 do not have the ability to create a Public Profile on Snapchat. Some older teens (ages 16-17) have opt-in access to Public Profiles, an introductory experience with additional safety measures and protections.
- Blocking, Hiding and Reporting. If a user doesn’t want to hear from another Snapchatter again, we offer in-app tools to report, block, or hide other Snapchatters.
- In-Chat Warnings. If a teen sends a message to or receives a message from someone they don’t already share mutual friends with or have in their contacts, or someone who has been blocked or reported by others, they will see an in-app warning. The message warns teens to carefully consider if they want to allow contact and serves to remind them to only connect with people they trust.
Additional Protections Against Unwanted Friending & Contact for Teens. We want teens to be able to find and communicate with their real friends on Snapchat, and make it especially hard for strangers to find teens on Snapchat. We do this by blocking teens from showing up in search results unless we have indications of an existing connection with the other user, such as having several mutual connections in common or being existing phone contacts with each other. We also delay and investigate friend requests sent to (or from) teens that involve someone they don't have mutual friends with, and who has a history of accessing Snapchat in locations often associated with scamming activity. These are examples of ways that we continuously explore making it more difficult for teens to connect with Snapchatters outside their real-world friend network.
Go here for more tips on teen privacy and safety, and for more details and friending tips see: How to Add Friends on Snapchat.