Countless thinkpieces have been published on the homebody tendencies of Gen Z, but Snapchat believes that its principal cohort still wants to go out, so it’s helping them fill up their calendars. The app has announced Snapchat Plans, an in-app suite of features that helps turn social rumblings into actual hangouts.
Put simply, Snapchat Plans is the titular app’s answer to services like Eventbrite and Partyful. It functions as a digital invite, an attendance tracker, and a planning hub, all rolled into one toolkit.
Snapchat users can invite up to 200 friends to join their Plans, and a rundown of past, current, and upcoming Plans will get dedicated real estate on each user’s profile. Invites can be customized using Bitmojis, and eventually, Snapchat will let users initiate Plans without leaving chat windows.
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“Like conversations on Snapchat, Snapchat Plans are private and invite-only, giving friends a familiar and trusted place to coordinate the moments that matter most,” reads a Snapchat blog post. “No more missed get-togethers because of buried messages, lost details, or forgetting to create an invitation.”
Snapchat, like many of its competitors, is leaning into the in-app touchpoints that bring its community together. Insta is doubling down on DMs, YouTube is helping its creators ink brand deals, and TikTok is leaning into lucrative formats like TikTok LIVE and TikTok Shop.
If Snapchat is going to play to its strengths, then it will prioritize its group chats, and that’s exactly what Plans does. Snapchat notes that 35% of U.S. users between the ages of 13 and 24 already use group chats to make plans and organize events. That behavior is inspiring an official function that reinforces a common use of the app.
So if you’re trying to make Plans next weekend, feel free to make them through Snapchat. We could all stand to touch grass from time to time — Snapchat is making sure that actually happens.
