After it was spotted in testing back in June, Threads has now launched a live test of disappearing updates in the app with selected users, which it’s hoping will facilitate more engagement and interaction in its Twitter challenger tool.
As you can see in this example, shared by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, Threads’ ephemeral posting option sees your updates erased from the app after 24 hours, when activated. Users who have access can choose to activate the option within their post creation tools.
Meta has confirmed to TechCrunch that a small number of Threads users are now able to try out the option, with a view to providing more ways for users to feel less restricted by having their updates permanently tied to them in the app.
Because having your social posts linked back to your name, in perpetuity on the web, can lead to problems.
We’ve seen this over and over again, with many celebrities being dragged for their past, ill-informed, insensitive, or offensive tweets and posts, which get dredged up when they suddenly become the focus of increased media attention.
That may be a key reason why people are now posting far less to social platforms than they used to, with most engagement activity switching to private messaging groups instead.
Indeed, Threads chief Adam Mosseri has been considering solutions on this front for some time.
In the early days of Threads, for example, Mosseri suggested that they may look to implement auto-archiving of Threads posts, in order to reduce the pressure associated with this element. That might then see people sharing more “raw and authentic content,” while the Threads team also considered an option to auto-delete Threads posts after 30 or 90 days. Though feedback from users indicated that this would not be an overly popular functionality, at least at this stage.
Disappearing posts is along the same path, with Threads users potentially, eventually able to either archive their posts, or set them to self-destruct, as they see fit.
So in effect, this is designed to address the broader anxiety around public posting on social apps, by making it easier for people to move on from their past statements and posts in the app.
Interestingly, that also aligns with X’s recent move to hide all user Likes, as a means to reduce the implied pressure that can come with interacting with certain types of “edgy” content.
Maybe, self-destructing posts would lead to more hot takes, and thus, more discussion in the app, but then again, the Threads team also seems determined to avoid a lot of this type of discussion either way, based on its efforts to downrank political discussion in the app.
Regardless, disappearing posts could be a valuable option for some users. I’m not sure how widely used it would be, but it could be part of a broader shift towards less permanent engagement in social apps.
