In the recent years, it has become a popular trend for people to creep on their friends, crushes and even exes by "Spotify snooping," where one checks out what people are listening to on the Spotify app. Finding out what others are listening to can give someone a little more insight on how that person may be feeling. In the recent months, people have been sharing their experiences with "Spotify snooping" on TikTok, some people detailing how they found out their ex was dating someone new while others share their tips on how to exactly snoop on someone yourself.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, 18-year-old college student, Regina Ticoalu, says that she has done Spotify snooping on her friends and acquaintances as a way to form deeper bonds with them. The college student said that finding out what her acquaintances are listening to can help her start conversations with them if she doesn't know them very well. “I can tell a lot about someone just by their music taste,” said Ticoalu. She also says that she sometimes Spotify snoops on people that are no longer in her life, as a way of checking in. Ticoalu does admit that sometimes the snooping can lead to "overthinking a lot" after finding things you may not have wanted to.
How does one Spotify snoop? Many people tend to keep their Spotify accounts public with public playlists, meaning if you search their username, you can snoop their account and the playlists they have made. Spotify also has a feature called "Friend Activity" where anyone can add your profile and see what you've been listening to, so if you are Spotify snooping a friend, this feature makes it easy to see exactly what they are listening in the moment.
Whether someone is snooping to find out what their ex has been listening to after their breakup, or trying to find out what their acquaintance's favorite artist is, Spotify snooping has been the newest way to try and understand just how their friends are feeling.