<p>A Purple circle on snapchat means there is a story updated by your friend that you haven’t seen yet. When you watch the story, the circle will disappear on its own. If you see a lock with the circle it means the story is private. But if you see a purple circle around the snapchat story no lock it simply means that the story is unwatched by you. It’s an indicator that there’s new content for you to see. This also means the story is public and viewable by all of the person’s friends.</p><p> </p>