Achi news desk-
Snapchat has modified its “solar system” feature following a recent one Wall Street Journal a report that said it adds to the anxiety of teenagers.
The feature works as a ranking system of sorts and shows users how close they are to others using a picture of the solar system. In the image, your friend is the sun and your Bitmoji avatar will display on a planet that represents how close you are to that person. The idea is that the person with Mercury position is a closer friend than the one on Neptune, the WSJ notes.
It is not a numerical site, and it is not visible to other users; however, Snapchat acknowledges that “while it can feel good to know you’re close to someone, it can also feel bad to know you’re not as close to a friend as you’d like to be.”
In response, Snapchat turns off the feature by default. If a user wants more friendship insights they can turn it on, but those who don’t can ignore the feature entirely.
“We hope this strikes the right balance between providing a feature desired by many who use it while avoiding upsetting those who don’t want to use it,” Snapchat said in a blog post.
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The Solar System feature is only available to paid Snapchat+ subscribers. Snapchat says it is currently used by less than 0.25% of its community every day.
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