The secret that everyone keeps is the guilty pleasure of using social media to stalk someone because of how easy it is. 

  Now there is an easier way to stalk someone: Snapchat Plus. Snapchat launched the new subscription in June 2022 and many users love it.

  Senior Lillian Bernstein has the subscription to Snapchat Plus and enjoys the benefits.

 “I got the subscription so it’s easier for me to be nosy,” Bernstein said. 

  In late June 2022 Snapchat came out with their new subscription called Snapchat Plus. Some think Snapchat Plus is amazing but it can be considered online stalking.  

  For $3.99 a month Snapchat Plus includes the advantages of Pinning your #1 Bestfriend, Story Rewatch Indicator, Custom Design Features, Friend Solar System, and Snapchat Score Counter. 

Some of these features are just advantages of having the subscription but the others could be considered an invasion of privacy. The Friend Solar System allows a subscriber to see if they are on their friend’s Best Friend list, there’s 8 spots on a Best Friend list and each rank has a different planet associated with it. Mercury is first place, Venus is second, Earth is third, and it continues like this for all 8 ranks.

  Then Story Rewatch Indicator is exactly what it says: you can see how many times your story was rewatched in 24 hours. Another feature is the ability to press on a friend’s’ Snap score and it’ll tell you if it’s increased since the last time you checked it.  

  Then there are custom design features where you can change the color of your Snap button, create wallpapers for you and your friends chat background and change your app icon. 

 The last feature Snapchat allows you to have is the ability to pin your number one best friend so no one can replace them on your list.  

  In March, Snapchat Plus took away one of their most popular features, Ghost Trails. This feature allowed users to track any of their friends that had their location turned on for Snap Map, to see where they had been in the past 24 hours. Your location can only be seen on Snap Map if you are using the app. Snapchat took it off because of privacy issues.  

  “I’m not happy about the removal of Ghost Trails,” Bernstein said. “I’m going to miss it.” 

  With all these features it’s obvious the people who have obsessive tendencies would love this subscription.  Being able to constantly know when someone’s Snap Score has increased to see if they’re ignoring you, checking to see if you’ve made someone’s Best Friend list or the old ability of checking someone’s movements in a 24 hour period, is creepy.  

  “I would never get the subscription to Snapchat Plus,” junior Marin Hasley said. “It seems desperate if you’re constantly checking someone’s Snap Score or checking their location.” 

  On Snapchat, people are not consenting to allow Snapchat Plus users to see their Best Friend list or these other invasions of privacy.  Similar apps like Life360 or Find My Friends give consent to friends to check their location. Snapchat does make users give consent to turn their location on Snap Map, but for almost 8 months users who had their location turned on probably did not know that all their movements for 24 hours could be seen. 

  “I’m happy Snapchat took Ghost Trails off,” Halsey said. “I didn’t know about the feature for two months until my friend told me about it and showed me all the places I had been.”