Be it a matter of keeping up with the competition or introducing features that are already found on other social media platforms, Snapchat has always been the stubborn outlier. Though this has been, in part, what separates Snapchat from other platforms, it has also disappointed many users who’ve been expecting the implementation of features that are now pretty much considered basic on other platforms, such as the ability to react to chat messages.
However, things are set to change soon. Rumor has it that Snapchat has finally given in and is currently working to introduce the much-requested Reaction feature to chat messages.
Twitter user Alessandro Paluzzi recently shared a leak that shows Snapchat might allow users to start reacting to chat messages with their own bubbly and colorful reactions.
#Snapchat is working on reactions for chat messages 👀 pic.twitter.com/UEvySTb9rc
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) June 16, 2021
With disappearing messages activated on Snapchat by default, many users don’t really bother to pay attention to chats once they’re viewed, unless the chats are saved.
If the rumors are true, and Snapchat decides to bring reactions in a future update, it might just resurrect chat messages on Snapchat. Chat message reactions are instrumental in keeping chats healthy and engaging. But if these are not available, rather than have conversations dulled by the existing chat options, most users don’t really use chats at all.
It’s not always easy to reply to someone’s typed message or selfie in a way that doesn’t keep you at a loss for words. Though there are no chatting obligations, per see, regardless of who you’re chatting with, basic etiquettes dictate that the receiver at least responds in a way that doesn’t seem callous or nonchalant – which it can seem so if the interface and its available options don’t call forth any interest and we end up with replying a simple “cool” or “ok“.
Reactions should prove useful for users who need the convenience of reacting to a message without having to always draw from their creative wells to keep the conversations interesting, or at least give it a semblance of being naturally evoked.
Currently, Snapchat is among the very few social media platforms that don’t yet have the reactions feature. All the major players, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Gmail let users react to chat messages in one form or another.
Over the years, many designers and Snapchat users have come up with their own renditions of what reactions could look like on Snapchat and how they could be implemented. If these weren’t the desperate cries for a change, we don’t know what is. Thankfully – and hopefully – their cries are being heard and Snapchat might introduce the necessary changes to bring Snap messages back in vogue. Better late than never.
