Snapchat is breaking further from its private-by-default roots with Topic Chats, a newly launched feature that will allow for the public sharing of conversations based on interests inside the app. Starting first in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand, Topic Chats will live in Chat shortcuts, search, the Stories page and alongside Spotlight reels with an obvious “Join the Chat” button that opens real-time conversation rooms related to a given theme, event or fandom.
What Topic Chats Are and Where They Show Up
Topic Chats are public chatrooms for specific subjects — say, Formula 1 race weekends, viral TV moments a la Below Deck or of-the-moment cultural news. Users can see what Topic Chats friends are in, a gentle push toward mutual interests without leaving the Snapchat they know.
Related Spotlight videos can also be surfaced in each Topic Chat, for helping to keep the conversation grounded in new bite-sized content. The design plays to Snapchat’s strength in short-form creation and passive discovery: Watch a clip, tap “Join the Chat,” hop into a real-time thread with folks tapping along to the same topic.
Why Public Chats Are Arriving on Snapchat Now
Spotlight comments were the primary place for public conversation on Snapchat, until now. The company says Topic Chats grew out of noticing how frequently users shifted between watching and commentating on trending moments. To put it in other words, the need for shared conversation was already present — Snapchat is just turning it into a first-class product.
The move also tracks with a broader platform shift from purely social graphs to Interest graphs. Snapchat still gives first billing to close friends in Topic Chats, yet interest-obsessed spaces allow the network to capture live commentary on sports, reality TV, and the newest cultural affairs — bastions in which competitors like Reddit, X Communities, and Discord have excelled. However, with more than 400 million daily active users reported in recent earnings, modest adoption levels could produce massive always-on chat venues. Another critical insight is message retention. Topic Chat messages may be saved for up to five years, Snapchat says, a marked difference from the classic app where chats are cleared by default after viewing or 24 hours unless saved. The capability to hold Topic Chat conversations enables persistent conversation threads and searchability but opens up a new pair of concerns about data handling and expectations of privacy on a platform renowned for its ephemerality. The business has invested in safety features over the years; however, the application to public rooms, including the use of family centering controls and robust reporting systems, will be essential. Automated moderation, subject-level command tools, and community reporting will all be used to address spam, abuse, and misinformation, especially around newsier or contentious topics. Topic Chats provide creators with a natural method to centralize an audience around ongoing topics: release a Spotlight, trigger a conversation, and keep the fans going until the next upload. For entertainment partners and sports teams, the capability could mirror the second-screen dynamics that appear on live-event evenings, all within an application where young users, in particular, spend a lot of time.
There’s also an explicit monetization angle. Interest-based rooms create a possible avenue for contextually relevant ad experiments, brand-driven conversation starters or something like exclusive Q&A sessions. As the ad industry increasingly relies on contextual signals, topic-level engagement provides a clean signal without needing cross-app tracking.
How It Compares With Rival Apps and Communities
Topic Chats are also lighter-weight than Discord servers or Reddit communities, and integrated directly with short-form content — which means less friction in between watching something and chatting about it. Versus X’s Communities or comment threads on TikTok, Snapchat leans on friend visibility — seeing who your friends are chatting with — to make public spaces feel a little less anonymous and more approachable.
The strategic wager is that a friends-first platform can play home to public discourse without sacrificing its intimate feel. Its success will depend on its rooms being high-signal and timely, not sprawling or stale.
Rollout Timeline and What to Watch in Early Markets
Members in the first markets will see Topic Chats roll out over the next few weeks. Keep an eye out for an expanding assortment of event-related rooms, seasonal pop culture topics and creator-led spaces based on Spotlight. Big metrics to monitor: time spent in Topic Chats, the velocity of participation during live events and how frequently friend cues turn passive viewers into active chatters.
If Topic Chats can mix public conversation and the ease of Snapchat’s social fabric — while retaining safety and clarity surrounding long-term retention — it may become a lasting offshoot of how the app transitions from moments of interest to movements.
