Snapchat rolls out ‘Topic Chats’ for public conversations

After primarily focusing on private conversations since its founding, Snapchat is embracing public conversations with a new “Topic Chats” feature. The social network says the feature lets users chat about what’s happening in the world and across various communities, from Formula 1 to the reality TV show “Below Deck.”

Profiles will remain private to anyone you’re not friends with, helping prevent unwanted friend requests or direct messages, Snapchat says. While a user’s display name will be visible next to their message, others won’t be able to tap through to their profile from a Topic Chat, the company told TechCrunch in an email. And unlike usernames, display names can’t be used to search for someone.

Snapchat told TechCrunch that it will use LLM technology and other safety measures to moderate Topic Chats to keep them safe and appropriate. Additionally, messages must adhere to Snapchat’s Community Guidelines, and users can report inappropriate messages. The company says it will take action against users who violate its policies, including warning users and blocking accounts.

Users will be able to see which Topic Chats their friends have joined, which the company says will make it easier for people to find common interests with others.

In addition to messages, Topic Chats will also surface related Spotlight videos, which are the app’s TikTok-like short-form videos.

Up until now, the only place for public conversations on Snapchat was in Spotlight comments. Snapchat says it was inspired to launch Topic Chats after seeing how its community interacts in public comments, as it wanted to give users a new way to have these conversations.

“Snapchatters create billions of Snaps every day, sharing moments with friends and family, and as we’ve expanded services like Spotlight, we’ve also found that the Snapchat community loves commenting publicly about trending topics and events,” the company wrote in a blog post.

Users in Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S. will start seeing Topic Chats appear across Snapchat over the coming weeks in Chat shortcuts, in search, in the Stories page, and on Spotlight videos. If you see a big yellow button on a Story or Spotlight that says “Join the Chat,” you can click on it to enter a chatroom.

Snapchat says messages sent in Topic Chats will be retained for up to five years.