The Power Of Social Media Gamification: A Snapchat User Engagement Analysis

Social media platforms will forever be in a race for who can attract and retain more users. In fact, the purpose of a social platform is to create and sustain the proper environment in which people can socialize. Surprisingly, a vast part of keeping users entertained is done through gamification systems and playful experiences.

In the following paragraphs, we will take a look at how psychology plays an important role in social media gamification by discussing the unique features Snapchat uses to keep its users engaged.

Gamification And Its Psychological Effects

Gamification is a process of building or transforming a process, a system, or even a service into an activity that simulates a game with the purpose of motivating users. Usually, you can accomplish the gamification of a product just by adding some standard game design elements like rewards, teamwork, competition, an achievement system, a public status, tasks, badges, progress bars, or even a virtual currency.

In games or gamified social platforms, motivation is vital. As a user, you have to go through a series of steps, tasks, or processes in order to achieve a goal, receive a badge, or simply feel satisfied. At the same time, small rewards will help maintain your dopamine levels and increase them, encouraging you to search for that feeling again. And guess what? The only way to get that dopamine rush again is by playing more.

While dopamine is what you want to achieve through gamification, social validation is yet another aspect that will convince users to keep coming back and do everything they can to have their names showcased on a public leaderboard. Slotscalendar.com has a similar system where they showcase social events where players receive a daily dose of virtual currency they can use to take part in social tournaments, competing for great prizes. 

And finally, a characteristic that Snapchat knew exactly how to monetize on was the fear of losing progress. Breaking a streak will definitely convince users to engage with a social platform and log in every day not only to reach a higher target but also to make sure they do not lose their current progress.

Snapchat’s Gamification Features

Snapchat is the first platform to achieve impressive numbers and manage to gather a huge community by applying simple gamification rules. At the end of 2024’s Q3, Statista published a study showing that at that time, Snapchat had more than 440 million daily active users.

We will lose no more time and dive straight into the most popular and effective features, the Snapstreaks.

Snapstreaks

The Snapstreaks feature marked the peak of social media gamification. Snapchat created a friendly environment where people can socialize, while at the same time intuitively inviting them to join a never-ending circle and form a new habit.

We believe the Snapstreaks feature is the quintessence of this platform. It tracks only the consecutive days of exchanging snaps between two different users. Basically, if you exchange a snap with one of your friends for three days in a row, you will have a streak of three. From this point, if you miss even a single day, your streak will be lost, forcing you to start from scratch.

This feature forces users to open the app every day and keep the streaks alive. At the same time, one would never want to disappoint a good friend and make them lose their streak due to ignorance. Also, the bigger your streak gets, the more motivated you will be to continue. Imagine having a streak of 265 days with multiple friends. You will definitely feel motivated to open the app and keep the streak going.

AR Lenses and Geofilters

AR Lenses are a different feature from the common filters you are used to. You can use them to change the background of your pictures, add elements, add 3D effects, or even completely transform your look.

Together with the Geofilters that enable you to personalize your picture based on your location, Snapchat gamified the art of making and sending selfies or photos in general. These tools would encourage users to explore different geographical locations in order to unlock premium filters and also create the most iconic, unique, and playful snaps to send to their friends.

Providing the tools to become creative and come up with viral posts is also a form of gamification that stimulates users to interact more with the app and generate more and more content.

Snap Maps

Using the Snap Maps feature, you will be able to publicly share your location, but also use it to interact with the events other users are taking part in. Obviously, the elements of gamification are present here as well. For instance, there is a small feature called “event discovery,” where users can actually see what their friends are doing and join if they feel like it.

Also, any user can join certain groups and take part in shared activities or even collect digital items based on how active they are. 

A Bitmoji Rewarding System

Finally, the Bitmoji system is simple yet well thought out, especially if you are new to the platform. Basically, you are able to unlock Bitmoji Trophies for completing tasks such as sending a certain number of snaps using a certain filter. 

Exploring the app can also generate such rewards, turning this exploration journey into a gamified treasure hunt. Should we mention that you will also be able to display your achievements and score some social validation?

In Review

If Snapchat managed to constantly grow its community using gamified approaches, it’s powerful proof that anyone can do it. Gamification does nothing else than transform basic processes into dopamine generators that will only drive satisfaction and keep players interested.