For The First Time, Snapchat Will Let Creators Publicly Display Their Follower Counts

Nine years after its launch, Snapchat has finally integrated a feature that has long been something of a given on competing social platforms: public follower counts.

That said, users will have the option to publicly display subscriber counts or not — as spotted by Houston-based social media consultant Mike Metzler (below) and amplified by CNN reporter Kerry Flynn. Metzler also did some digging into some of Snapchat’s most-followed creators, including Kylie Jenner, (36.4 million subscribers), Charli D’Amelio (13.7 million), DJ Khaled (13.4 million), David Dobrik (6.8 million), and Donald Trump (1.9 million).

“We’ve listened to feedback from our creator community and many of them expressed interest in having the option to show that their community on Snapchat is growing,” a Snapchat spokesperson tells Tubefilter. “So, starting today, we are giving creators the option to make subscriber counts visible on their public profiles…We understand not every creator wants to have public metrics visible to their fans. Therefore, creators can choose to toggle this metric on and off as needed in their settings.”

The option to add follower counts is the latest in a series of creator-focused updates unveiled by Snapchat in recent months.

In September, for instance, the company rolled out permanent public profiles that on the back-end also furnish access to analytics as well as other tools — which were previously reserved for verified creators — to help Snapchatters more seamlessly connect with their fans. Public profiles let users display a bio section, content highlights, and Lens usage. They also enable creators to open up process access to team members for multi-faceted account management.

The ability to show subscriber counts is available to any creator or business with a public profile. Public profiles are currently available to a subset of creators with established audiences and a history of abiding by community guidelines, and will roll out globally over coming months.