- Snapchat has announced a new Topic Chats feature that lets users join public conversations around any popular subject.
- It will cluster Snaps and Spotlight videos related to a topic, giving users a visual perspective.
- The feature is rolling out first in New Zealand, Canada and the US and users can join any topic by tapping the "Join the conversation" button.
Snapchat has announced that it will soon launch a new “Topic Chats” feature, which will allow public discussions on any trending topic that users can participate in. It will also cluster any Snaps made on that topic to offer a visual perspective to the users. It’s sort of Snapchat’s take on apps like Clubhouse or X Communities.
What is Snapchat’s Topic Chats Feature?
With Topic Chats, Snapchat users will be able to have conversations on any popular subject. According to Snapchat’s announcement, Topic Chats will “bring our most popular chat features to public conversations about what’s happening in the world and in your community, and they cluster Snaps about that topic to make it easy to explore what’s happening visually.”
To enter a discussion, simply tap on the big yellow button that says, “Join the conversation”. It will be visible on Stories and Spotlight videos related to the said topic. Moreover, if you are already part of a group, you can jump into the discussion from your Snapchat Chat page.
It will also allow you to find your Snapchat friends while keeping your profile private from those who are not friends with you in that group. The entire discussion will be moderated by an LLM, in line with Snapchat’s community guidelines. The feature will be rolling out first for “Snapchatters in Canada, New Zealand, and the US”.
I can see Snapchat taking a page out of Clubhouse and X Communities, given how popular they are for public engagement. The company is trying out some new tools lately to boost interactions and increase revenue, like its new Lens+ subscription and paid storage for Snapchat Memories.
Seeing how popular Snapchat is among the young audience, I can see Topic Chats working in app’s favor. But what do you think about this new feature? Let us know in the comments below.
