Questions to Ask on Snap
Prompts to send a friend on Snapchat, most of them answerable with one photo, ordered from things anyone will send back to ones that only work with someone you already trust.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What does the view out of your window look like right now?
Why ask it
Answerable in four seconds without getting yourself in shot, which is why it gets a reply from people who never send selfies. It also tells you where they are and roughly what kind of day they are having, without asking either question.
What are you eating? Send it before you start.
Why ask it
The 'before you start' is what makes it fun, because a half-eaten plate is a worse photo and everyone knows it. Food prompts are the safest way to restart a conversation that has gone quiet for a couple of days.
What's the weirdest thing within arm's reach of you?
Why ask it
Constrained enough to be easy and specific enough to produce something odd, which a question about their room in general does not. Expect a cable, a receipt, or something they cannot explain, and expect a story with it.
What's on your feet today?
Why ask it
Shoes are already in frame, so the photo costs nothing, which is why this holds a thread together on a day when neither of you has news. Slippers at three in the afternoon is an answer in itself, and the reply is usually about the day rather than the footwear.
What does your desk look like right now, no tidying?
Why ask it
The condition on the end is the whole thing: it gives permission for mess, which is what makes people send it. Someone who tidies first, or sends a photo from a different angle each time, is telling you they are keeping up appearances even here.
What's the most-used thing in your bag?
Why ask it
Reveals more than a question about interests would, since what people carry describes their week: a chargers-and-headphones answer, a work tool, medication, a book they never open. Follow up on the odd one rather than the obvious one.
Which filter do you actually use, and which one do you pretend you don't?
Why ask it
Self-deprecating, so it lands as a joke rather than a criticism, and everybody has a second answer. The admission is the point, and it usually gets a photo demonstrating both.
What's the funniest thing in your camera roll from this year?
Why ask it
This one gets a real search rather than a snap of the ceiling, so expect a slower reply and a better one. It is also the prompt most likely to turn into a run of ten photos, which is a good sign about the friendship.
What did you nearly buy today and then put back?
Why ask it
Small confessions are easier than big ones, and this one is about restraint rather than desire. The answers tell you what someone is trying not to spend money on, which is a more honest picture than a wishlist.
What are you avoiding doing right now?
Why ask it
Almost nobody sends a photo of the thing itself, which is the joke, and the answer is usually work, laundry, or a conversation they owe someone. The last of those is worth a gentle follow-up rather than a laugh.
Who took the last photo of you, and what were you doing?
Why ask it
Shifts the camera around, so it reveals who they actually spend time with rather than what they look like. If the answer is that nobody has taken a photo of them in months, that is worth noticing quietly.
What's the last thing that made you properly laugh? Show me.
Why ask it
Expect a forwarded screenshot rather than an explanation, which is fine: it gets you their actual sense of humor rather than a description of it. Sending yours back immediately is what keeps the exchange going.
What's the plan tonight, in one picture?
Why ask it
Vague on purpose so an empty evening can be answered as a joke rather than an admission. It also does the practical work of finding out whether they are free, without the pressure of an invitation.
What's a photo you'd never post anywhere?
Why ask it
Trades on the fact that this is private, so it needs an established friendship: sent to the wrong person it reads as a request for something else entirely. Between friends the answers tend to be unflattering rather than secret.
What's something small you did today that you're pleased about?
Why ask it
Sized deliberately low, because asking about achievements gets nothing on an ordinary Tuesday. Answers are chores, appointments made, and messages finally sent, and taking them seriously is what makes this land.
What's the one thing you'd grab if you had ten seconds to leave?
Why ask it
Fast to answer and quietly revealing, since almost nobody names anything expensive. Watch for the person who cannot think of anything, which is a different answer than it sounds.
What's the thing your friends always come to you for?
Why ask it
Lets someone claim a role without boasting: lifts, advice, being the organizer, being the one who tells the truth. If they say nobody comes to them for anything, that is worth taking seriously rather than arguing with.
What's something you're better at than you let on?
Why ask it
The 'let on' part is doing the work, because it acknowledges people play things down. Expect a delayed reply, since this is the first prompt here that cannot be answered with the camera.
Is there something you keep meaning to tell me?
Why ask it
Only send this to someone you talk to regularly, and only when you can stay on your phone for a while. It is either answered with nothing or with the thing they have been sitting on, and the second needs your attention rather than a reaction.
What do you actually want to do this weekend, rather than what we always do?
Why ask it
Ends the exchange with a plan instead of another prompt, which is what a long snap thread usually needs. The 'what we always do' gives them room to say they are bored of the routine without criticizing anyone.
Using the camera instead of the keyboard
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Prompts that suit the format
- Anything answerable with one photo taken where they already are will get a reply. Anything needing a paragraph gets left on opened.
- Point the question at an object rather than a face. Most people send far more photos of their surroundings than of themselves, and prompts that require a selfie quietly exclude anyone having a bad day about how they look.
- Add a constraint: right now, no tidying, before you start, in one picture. Constraints make a prompt easy and funny at the same time.
- Send yours with the question, not after. A prompt with your own answer attached reads as playing; a bare question reads as an assignment.
- Ask one thing. A stack of three questions on one snap gets you an answer to whichever is easiest and silence on the rest.
Streaks are not conversation
A streak keeps a habit alive and nothing else. If every exchange is a photo of a ceiling with the word 'streak' on it, the friendship is running on obligation, and adding more prompts will not fix it. Use one of the middle questions here to break the pattern deliberately, then reply properly to whatever comes back. It is also worth saying out loud, once, that you would rather talk than keep a number going, because plenty of people are maintaining streaks they would happily drop.
When to move off the camera
- If a reply arrives with real weight in it, stop sending prompts. Switch to chat, a voice note, or a call, because disappearing messages are a bad place for something serious.
- Photos vanish, so anything you would want to reread later belongs somewhere else. That includes plans, addresses, and anything you agreed to.
- If they answer three prompts in a row with a single letter, they are busy or bored. Leave it a day rather than sending a fourth.
- Screenshotting a friend's snap is visible to them. Ask first if you want to keep something, and do not screenshot anything they clearly sent because it disappears.
What not to send
- Any request for a photo of their body, however lightly it is phrased, to anyone who has not made it clear that is welcome. It ends friendships and it is remembered.
- Prompts that pressure someone into being on camera when they have said they would rather not. Once is a joke, twice is a pattern.
- Anything asking exactly where they are. Snap already shares more location than most people realize, and a friend asking for specifics reads badly.
- Screenshots of another friend's conversation, forwarded for comment. It always gets back around.
- The same prompt to fifteen people in one evening. Replies come back at once, you lose track of who said what, and everybody works it out.