What does the green dot mean on Snapchat? Is It Accurate?

What does the green dot on Snapchat mean? Cut to the chase: According to Snapchat, it indicates the recent activity status of your friends/yourself. If you see a green dot on your friend’s avatar, it means that your friend is active/online recently, but not currently.

How accurate is the green dot on Snapchat?

In terms of how long the Snapchat green dot stays up, there is no exact and valid explanation from the official side, but it is commonly acknowledged that the green dot in Snapchat indicates a recent 24-hour active status, so it might stay up for about 24 hrs (at least several hours) as well, until the user is online again.

So, it is not entirely accurate, and does not mean the person is online right now. If you think you are being ignored while the green dot is on, don’t take it seriously. Remember that it is not live.

How to Turn It off?

If you feel that this reveals your privacy, you might also turn it off to protect your online activity tracks/status.

Step 1. Go to your profile on the top-left corner > tap the gear button on the upper right corner.

Step 2. Scroll down to PRIVACY CONTROLS > find Activity Indicator > switch it off.

Though this feature is designed to encourage people to chat online, the Snapchat green dot does, somehow, lead to stalking online. Now you know your bf may stalk your activities on social media, but do you know what some unknown third parties online will do, too?

If you care about online security and privacy, you might as well try using a VPN to encrypt your online activities and become anonymous. iTop VPN is a good choice with a free and safe service. When activated, all your traffic will be routed through an encrypted tunnel, keeping you safe from data and privacy leaks.