Why are Snapchat stories so useful? Putting together a story is one of the fastest ways to post the main highlights of your day or of an event. It’s also one of the fastest ways for people to catch up with what you’ve been doing without going through entire albums with hundreds of photos.
But if you’re an outgoing person, you’ll eventually add Snapchat friends you aren’t exactly close to. You may even add people you never spoke with.
This means that when you want to share some personal stories, it would be very convenient to have the option to be more selective about who gets to see them. Luckily, this is not an issue in Snapchat.
Understanding Snapchat Stories
Snapchat gives you the option to use “My Story” and “Our Story.” Each feature is designed for a very specific purpose. While everyone should know by now what “My Story” stands for, there are probably still a few users that haven’t tried “Out Story”
This feature was introduced to allow Snapchatters to contribute to stories in groups. Snapchat designed the app for use at events, to discuss various topics, capture amazing scenery or travel adventures, and so on. The main idea is that more than one person can contribute.
Both types of stories will stay up for 24 hours before being automatically deleted and all of them are essentially customizable. But, depending on who gets access to view the stories, you can also classify them by the following designations:
Private Story
As opposed to other types of Stories on Snapchat, Private Stories let you select the individuals for who you want to view your content. Of course, depending on your privacy settings, you can make your account private. But this means that you will share your Story with everyone you’re friends with.
Creating a Private Story is really simple. Just follow these steps:
- Open Snapchat and tap on your profile icon in the upper left-hand corner.
- Locate the ‘Stories’ heading and tap ‘Private Story.’
- Select the people who will have access to your Story.
- Continue to record just as you would any other Snapchat Story and post it.
Even though Snapchat’s in-app interface can be difficult to get used to, posting Private Stories is really simple.
Custom
Custom stories were the latest addition to the Snapchat Story feature. It’s a highly popular update due to the level of control you can exercise. You can also create custom stories with friends since the “Our Story” feature was added.
In this case, each member of the group can contribute with their own pictures and videos, and so enrich the story. Custom stories can only be seen by contributors by default. However, you can change viewing privileges and let other friends see them too.
Geo
Geo stories, which use geofencing, allow you to create stories that display your location too. Snapchat will draw a one-block radius around your location, so you can invite people nearby to contribute to the story. Friends, friends of friends, and others in your one-block radius can add to the story you’ve created if you allow them to.
Assigning Viewing Privileges
What’s also nice about Snapchat is that the app allows you to change viewing privileges on stories even after posting them. The steps involved are easy to follow.
- Go to your profile page.
- Tap “Settings.”
- Go to the “Who Can…” tab.
- Select “View My Story.”
- You will get three choices: Everyone, Friends Only, and Custom.
- Tap “Custom.”
- Tap the “Back” button to save the changes.
Choosing “Everyone” is not the way to go if you want privacy for the content you’re posting with the story. Selecting “Friends Only” will make the story private for anyone outside your contact list. This includes friends of friends and people inside your geofence.
The “Custom” option will allow you to choose which friends you want to be able to see your story. Whether you pick one or two close friends, a select group, or even just yourself, it’s totally up to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will other people know that I’ve made a private story on Snapchat?
No. The only people who can see your Private Story are those who you’ve granted that permission. But, the viewers can see that they are viwing private content.
Can I see who can view a private story?
No. If someone else posted a Private Story and added other users you won’t be able to see who all can see it too. Unless the other user adds to your story no one will know who else has viewing privileges.
Can I add more people to my existing Private Story?
Yes. All you need to do is tap on your profile icon in the upper left-hand corner and tap on the three dots next to your Private Story. Your friends’ list will appear and you can select the friends you’d like to add then click ‘Save’ at the bottom.
Additional Information on Private Snapchat Stories
There are no notifications sent out when you allow someone to view your private story – to them, it will just look like any other story. So you can’t really use this feature as a marketing tool unless you let people know that they’re the only ones getting access to your content. If you do want to use it that way, announce that you’re going to post an exclusive story and only a select few get access.
Private or not, all stories on Snapchat last 24 hours. Even group stories created during events or trips last only one day. So don’t forget to tick the save option when you’re creating a new private story, as it will keep you from losing your snaps.
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