What began as a place where privacy is baked deep into its roots, now, Snapchat is making a bold move.
In the era where voices also matter, Snapchat is introducing what it calls the 'Topic Chats' feature, which it says can bring out "our most popular chat features to public conversations about what’s happening in the world and in your community."
In other words, the feature is designed to let users engage in public discussions around popular trends and shared interests.
The company says this comes in response to growing demand, especially from its Spotlight users, who want more than just scrolling: they want community, connection, and conversation.
The rollout of Topic Chats will begin in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand over the coming weeks.
Within the app, these chat rooms will appear in multiple places: users can see a bright yellow 'Join the Chat' button when browsing Spotlight videos, on the Stories page, in search, or in the chat shortcuts. Tap on that button, and users are quickly teleported into a live public conversation tied to that topic.
What makes it especially attractive is that Snapchat will surface related Spotlight videos inside each Topic Chat, so users can watch short clips linked to the chat’s subject and immediately jump into the discussion.
And once users join a chat, it also becomes easier for them to find that again.
This is because once users joined a chat, Topic Chats they're part of will show up at the top of their personalized Topic Chat page, helping them keep track of the conversations they care about.
Despite being public, Snapchat is preserving user privacy in thoughtful ways.
For example, users' display name will appear next to their messages, but strangers in the chat won’t be able to tap through to their full profile. Only people who are already friends can see more. Also, users can always leave a chat quietly without announcing their exit, though their past messages will stay unless they manually delete them.
And in order to keep things safe and healthy, especially since a majority of its users are youngsters, Snapchat is using large language models (LLMs) and other safety systems to moderate content in these chats, along with community reporting.
On top of that, if a message violates the platform’s Community Guidelines, users can report it.
Snapchat says that it will respond with warnings or account blocks when necessary.
On the backend, Snapchat is doing something interesting with data retention: messages in Topic Chats can be stored for up to five years, so these conversations aren’t just ephemeral snaps.
Long story short, the launch of Topic Chats is a notable departure from Snapchat’s classic disappearing-chat model.
This, is a sign that the company sees public conversations as a long-term part of its evolution.
"This is new for Snapchat, because we’ve primarily focused on supporting private conversations rather than public ones. Watching our community engage with one another in public comments inspired us to invent a new way to have these conversations. Meet Topic Chats — a new type of Chat built for the moments everyone’s talking about," Snapchat said in a newsroom post.
In many ways, Topic Chats feels like Snapchat’s answer to the public-discussion trend on other platforms, but with a twist that stays true to what makes Snapchat unique: privacy-conscious design, real-time engagement, and a strong tie to short-form video via Spotlight.
The goal is to open up new spaces for creators, brands, and regular users alike to build communities and talk about what matters, all without sacrificing the core feel of Snapchat.