Now that we have both feet firmly planted in the digital era, more of our interpersonal communications take place in a digital landscape than ever before. We add friends to our various instant messaging platforms at the drop of a hat, and it’s as easy as ever within the popular Kik Messenger application. Perhaps even more important than knowing the ins and outs of the app’s intuitive interface is knowing how to add and manage your contacts in Kik. There’s hardly a better way to enhance your chat experience than giving yourself more people to chat with.
Kik Messenger is an especially feature-laden chat system, made particularly appealing by its built-in web browser, accurate read-notification system, and accessibility. Unlike many chat applications, Kik doesn’t immediately scour your device’s contact list upon installation. Since it doesn’t require your phone number or any other identifying personal information, it occasionally throws users for a loop when they’re trying to add new people to their contacts list.
We’ll go through the simple steps required to add more people to your Kik contact list, and delve into the nuance of how it works. Lastly, we’ll troubleshoot a few frequent user errors, and talk about the privacy and security trends that users should pay attention to when sharing their Kik Messenger profiles.
My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.- Henry Ford
Adding Friends in Kik
Currently, there are three primary ways to add friends to your Kik Messenger contact list, and they remain the same no matter what platform you’re choosing to run the app on. It should be noted that Kik only runs natively on iOS, Android, and Windows phone devices, but the use of an Android emulator on Windows PC and Mac computers can allow users to run Kik on a desktop or laptop. The methods we’ll use to add friends to Kik in the following article work on any platform that you choose to use!
Adding Friends Right Away
Most users will attest to how brilliantly easy it is to set up a profile on Kik Messenger, and they’re not wrong. Upon first installing the application, you’ll be asked to create a user profile for yourself. This consists only of a unique username, an email address, a password, and your chosen display name. You’ll never be required to share an address or phone number, which helps to keep your valuable private information to yourself.
However, you’ll also be asked if you’d like Kik to search your current contact list for other Kik users. If you allow it to do so, Kik will do a quick scan of your current contact list, looking not for phone numbers, but email addresses that match up with current Kik users. There are two considerations that you should keep in mind when choosing this option to add friends to your Kik contact list. First, know that you may have friends on Kik that don’t get added through this quick-search method. “Why?” you ask? Because users can provide any email address that they’d like to when registering for Kik, and it’s quite possible that the email you use to keep in touch with your regular contacts may very well not be the one they added for Kik Messenger.
Secondly, there’s a strong chance that you may not have any email addresses at all within your device’s contacts list! Many users utilize third-party email applications on the smartphones and tablets, which Kik will not use when searching for other users.
However, this remains the most automated and swift method of adding friends to Kik, and it happens right when you install the app!
Sharing Your Kik Profile
Kik’s success rests largely upon its accessibility. Even though you can certainly use its lack of personal information to maintain a strong sense of anonymity, you can also integrate your Kik experience with any number of social media platforms. It’s hard to find someone that isn’t using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or some combination of the numerous, diverse social media apps in existence on today’s digital marketplace. Disseminating your profile through these other platforms is exceptionally easy, and can be done from within Kik Messenger itself.
First, click the small icon in the top left or bottom left of Kik (depending on which platform you use, it can be located in a different place.) This will take you to the “Settings” menu, from which you can access a host of options regarding how Kik runs on your device. The options we’re looking for, however, is “Share Your Profile,” located at the bottom of the menu. Select this, and you’ll be presented with a list of the three more popular social media options: Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Additionally, you can select “Other” in order to zip your profile along to any other option of your choosing.
While this is another very easy way of sharing your profile in order to add more friends to your Kik contacts, you should always be certain that you know who you’re displaying your profile to. Since any user can message you on Kik once they have your unique username (unless they are, of course, blocked), it would behoove you to not send a profile link to too many people at once. Below, we’ll discuss some of the reasons that you should be cautious when sharing your Kik profile.
Adding Friends With Your Kik Code
While I’m certainly fond of the other methods that Kik utilizes to add friends to the contact list, this one is by far my favorite. “Why?” you ask? Because out of all three, this one provides the best integration for adding friends that you see on a daily basis. Other users running Kik on a smartphone can get you on their contact list without needing to delve through menus or social media applications at all–instead, they can simply scan your profile with their own device.
- In order to bring up your Kik code, tap that gear icon that leads to your “Settings” menu once again. From there, tap on “Your Kik Code” in order to bring up the interface for sharing and scanning.
- In order for you to share your profile, all that you need to do is display your unique scanning signature–also accompanied by your username and display name–for others to scan. If they have Kik installed, they can do so from within the app, and it will allow them to instantly find you amidst Kik’s millions of users.
- If you’re on the other side of that coin, and you’re wanting to scan someone else’s profile in order to find them, you can simply toggle the function of the Kik code screen at the bottom of the window! Note that Kik may request access to your device’s camera, a security feature that frequently crops up for iPhone users especially. Once your device’s camera is pointed at the Kik code belonging to the person in question, simply line it up with the viewfinder and you’ll be in business!
Though scanning your contacts list and sending your profile off to social media platforms is certainly an effective way to add contacts in Kik, the Kik code feels far more intimate and personal, and therefore often is more satisfying. Sadly, it’s quite cumbersome to perform when running Kik Messenger through an emulator, but it is possible if your emulator allows you to connect your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth.
Tips & Tricks When Adding Friends
Though it’s tempting to hop in and start adding friends to Kik Messenger as swiftly as you can, I would caution most users to approach the process a bit more slowly. Though it’s handy that Kik doesn’t require more personal information to set up your profile, your unique Kik username that identifies you on this service should still only be shared with people that you know and are willing to trust.
This is due to the fact that anyone with your username can message you, at any time. While Kik’s block feature performs its duty quite well when you receive unwanted messages, it’s easy to see how such a scenario can quickly get out of hand should too many people get a hold of your username. If it’s shared in a public space out of malicious intent, for example, you could suddenly be left receiving messages from dozens of users that you don’t know or recognize.
Additionally, it can be useful to grow your contact list meaningfully. What do I mean by this? I often suggest that users add friends and contacts only as quickly as each added person can be individually acknowledged, even if only with a single message or greeting. This helps you to keep your number of Kik friends to keep from getting larger than you can manage. After all, being bombarded with a torrent of messages (even if they’re all friends) can be a disorienting and off-putting experience.
And, there you have it! There are several ways to add friends to your contact list in Kik Messenger. Add your own stories and tips in the comments, below!