Snapchat launches Topic Chats for public conversations in three markets

Snapchat announced Topic Chats on November 17, 2025, marking a strategic expansion beyond its traditional focus on private messaging. The new feature enables users to engage in public conversations about trending topics and events, representing a fundamental shift in how the platform approaches community interaction.

According to Team Snapchat, the decision emerged from observing user behavior on Spotlight, where the community demonstrated strong interest in commenting publicly. "Snapchaters 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 stated in its announcement.

The rollout will occur over the coming weeks in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Users in these markets will encounter Topic Chats across multiple surfaces within the application, including Chat shortcuts, search functionality, the Stories page, and on Spotlight videos. Access points appear as prominent yellow buttons labeled "Join the Chat" on relevant Stories and Spotlight content.

The feature architecture brings Snapchat's established private chat functionality into public contexts while maintaining certain privacy protections. Topic Chats cluster Snaps related to specific subjects, enabling visual exploration of ongoing discussions. The system displays whether friends have joined particular Topic Chats, facilitating discovery of shared interests among existing connections. Chats that users join move to the top of their Topic Chat page for easier access.

Moderation systems will operate to ensure safety and appropriateness across the platform's community. According to the announcement, profiles remain private from non-friends, protecting against unwanted friend requests or direct messages from strangers encountered in public conversations. This approach attempts to balance public discourse with Snapchat's existing privacy architecture.

The timing of this launch follows several significant platform developments throughout 2025. In September, Snapchat introduced Infinite Retention and Group Streaks, departing from its traditional ephemeral messaging model by allowing permanent conversation storage and collective engagement metrics across groups. The platform expanded AI capabilities in October, removing subscription requirements for its Imagine Lens text-to-image generation feature in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia.

From an advertising and marketing perspective, the introduction of public conversations creates new opportunities for brand engagement and community formation around specific topics. The platform processes more than 8 billion daily lens engagements, providing substantial baseline usage for deploying new community features. Snapchat reached 932 million monthly active users by the second quarter of 2025, with 469 million daily active users representing 9% year-over-year growth.

The shift toward public discourse occurs within broader social media trends. Global social media user identities reached 5.66 billion in 2025, representing 68.7% of the world's population, with users spending more than 2.5 hours daily on social and video platforms. For marketers, social media advertisements have become the primary brand discovery channel for consumers aged 16 to 34, with 34.2% of younger users relying on social ads to learn about products and services.

Snapchat's approach differs from competitors by maintaining privacy boundaries within public spaces. Other platforms have struggled with balancing open discourse and user safety, particularly regarding youth audiences. The company launched its Family Safety Hub in July 2025 in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, providing comprehensive parental controls including friend monitoring, content restrictions, and confidential reporting systems. Statistical data indicates more than 20 million teens use Snapchat in the United States, with half engaging daily.

The technical implementation allows users to view related Spotlight videos within Topic Chats, creating multimedia discussion environments that combine ephemeral messaging traditions with curated video content. This integration leverages Snapchat's existing content surfaces while creating new connection points between users who might not otherwise interact directly.

Advertising implications extend to how brands might participate in these conversations. The platform has expanded Sponsored Snaps throughout 2025, with the format delivering up to 22% performance increases when included in broader campaign mixes and driving 18% lifts in unique converters. Topic Chats could provide additional context for targeted advertising based on demonstrated interests through participation in specific discussions.

The announcement mentions topics ranging from Formula 1 racing to reality television shows like Below Deck, suggesting the system will accommodate diverse interest areas. This breadth indicates infrastructure designed to handle multiple simultaneous conversations across entertainment, sports, news, and cultural topics. The clustering of related Snaps within each Topic Chat creates visual documentation of ongoing events and discussions.

Platform measurement capabilities have improved significantly. Google Analytics introduced native Snap Ads cost data import functionality in September 2025, enabling advertisers to automatically import cost data from Snapchat campaigns directly into Analytics properties. This integration provides comprehensive performance analysis alongside other traffic sources, making cross-platform campaign comparison more accessible.

For content creators and publishers, Topic Chats represent new distribution channels for timely content. The integration with Spotlight videos creates pathways for content to reach engaged audiences already interested in specific subjects. Snapchat's subscription service approached 16 million users in the second quarter, increasing 42% year-over-year, demonstrating sustained platform engagement beyond basic features.

The geographic limitation to three English-speaking markets suggests initial testing before broader international expansion. Canada, New Zealand, and the United States provide diverse user bases while maintaining language consistency for moderation and feature refinement. The phased rollout over coming weeks allows for iterative improvements based on early adoption patterns and usage data.

Safety infrastructure requirements for public conversations exceed those needed for private messaging. Machine learning algorithms must detect potentially harmful interactions across thousands of simultaneous discussions while providing users with reporting mechanisms for safety concerns. The challenge intensifies when considering the platform's substantial teenage user base and regulatory scrutiny regarding minor safety.

The feature arrives as digital platforms navigate tension between engagement maximization and user wellbeing. Public conversation spaces historically struggle with content moderation at scale, particularly when addressing harassment, misinformation, and coordinated manipulation. Snapchat's implementation attempts to address these challenges through profile privacy restrictions and moderation systems, though effectiveness will depend on execution rather than architectural design.

From a business model perspective, public conversations increase time spent within the application, directly impacting advertising inventory availability and user data generation for targeting improvements. The company generated $1.345 billion in revenue during the second quarter of 2025, up 9% year-over-year, while producing $41 million in Adjusted EBITDA and $24 million in Free Cash Flow. Topic Chats could contribute to improving these metrics through enhanced engagement.

The announcement provides limited technical detail regarding conversation persistence, archiving, or searchability. These specifications matter significantly for user experience and platform dynamics. Permanent, searchable public conversations create different incentives and behaviors compared to ephemeral exchanges that disappear. The relationship between Topic Chats and Snapchat's core disappearing message philosophy remains unclear.

Looking forward, Topic Chats represent competitive positioning against platforms that have successfully built public discourse features. The integration with existing Snapchat infrastructure rather than creation of separate social networking functions suggests attempts to leverage established user behaviors while expanding engagement opportunities. Success will depend on whether the Snapchat community embraces public conversation or remains committed to private messaging that defined the platform's initial appeal.

Timeline

• November 17, 2025: Snapchat announces Topic Chats for Canada, New Zealand, and United States
• October 22, 2025: Snapchat makes AI image generation free in U.S., removing subscription requirements for Imagine Lens
• September 17, 2025: Google Analytics launches Snap Ads cost data import integration
• September 13, 2025: Snapchat adds infinite retention and group streaks features, departing from ephemeral messaging model
• August 5, 2025: Snap expands Sponsored Snaps amid platform challenges, reaching 932 million monthly active users
• July 4, 2025: Snapchat launches Family Safety Hub in UAE partnership with Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority

Summary

Who: Team Snapchat announced the feature for Snapchat users in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. The platform serves 469 million daily active users and 932 million monthly active users globally as of the second quarter of 2025.

What: Topic Chats introduce public conversation functionality enabling users to discuss trending topics and events. The feature appears across Chat shortcuts, search, Stories pages, and Spotlight videos, with prominent yellow "Join the Chat" buttons marking access points. Users can see which friends participate in Topic Chats, with joined conversations moving to the top of dedicated Topic Chat pages. The system clusters related Snaps around specific topics while maintaining profile privacy from non-friends and implementing moderation for safety.

When: Snapchat announced Topic Chats on November 17, 2025, with rollout occurring over the coming weeks in the three launch markets.

Where: The initial deployment covers Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Users will encounter the feature across multiple surfaces within the Snapchat application, integrated with existing infrastructure rather than operating as a separate product.

Why: The announcement stated that Snapchat community behavior on Spotlight demonstrated strong interest in publicly commenting about trending topics and events. This observation inspired development of Topic Chats as "a new way to have these conversations" that differs from Snapchat's traditional private messaging focus. The feature enables discovery of common interests among friends and provides visual exploration of topics through clustered Snaps.