What does a lock mean on Snapchat? Why is there a lock on some snapchat stories?

The pandemic saw a lot of people resorting to social media to pass their time every day. Numerous people saw social media as a medium to stay in touch with their family and friends. This gave rise to people joining app that they were not previously on, and them being confused about certain symbols and icons.

Recently a lot of people took to Twitter to ask about the padlock or lock icon they see on their friends’ stories on Snapchat. Here are some of the tweets from netizens who took to twitter to ask about the lock icon on Snapchat. Take a look.

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What does the lock mean on Snapchat?

If you too have been wondering what does the lock symbol on Snapchat means, here are details about it and what does it do.

The lock symbol next to a Snapchat story means that a particular story is private. This feature has been on the app for a long time and enables users to share any story only with a few people.

This feature allows users to hide their stories from the people on their Snapchat list they do not wish to share the story with. This feature helped a lot of users to segregate their list of contacts and choose which person gets to see which story. This feature is similar to Instagram’s close friends feature.

While the lock could make a user feel that the story is to be hidden from them, it is actually the contrary. If you see the lock symbol on a Snapchat story, that means that you are one of the few people that the person allowed to view that particular story.

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How to create a private story on your Snapchat?

Now that you know what the lock feature does, here is how you too can create a private story on Snapchat.

• Open the Snapchat app.
• Select your profile icon in order to create a private story on Snapchat.
• Click on the icon '+custom story.
• After that choose 'Private Story'.
• Then make your Private story and then you can choose which friend would you want to see the story.

Your private story can be for your eyes only as well. However, Geo Stories are for yourself and nearby Snapchatter in the location that you have chosen to post the story.

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Image credits: Morning Brew Unsplash (@morningbrew)