Threads is test-driving an option that lets people put an expiration date on their posts. Similar to Instagram Stories, it automatically deletes a post after 24 hours.Developer Alessandro Paluzzi first posted about the feature earlier this summer, and it’s now being tested with a small group of users, Meta tells TechCrunch. Details are scant; Threads says only that the option is “a new and casual way to share.”In a screenshot shared by Paluzzi in June, an expiring post features a banner up top that says: “Your post and all replies will be automatically deleted in 24 hours and removed from your profile.” In another screenshot posted by TechCrunch, a banner atop replies says: “This thread and all replies will disappear when the timer ends.” That timer beside a post lets you know how much time is left on the clock.The feature is similar to Twitter Fleets, which allowed users to create posts that disappeared in 24 hours. It launched in 2020 but was discontinued in 2021 due to low usage. It was also limited; Fleets could only be viewed, not retweeted, liked, or replied to publicly.It appears that the Threads version supports interactions with an expiring post. Twitter marketed Fleets as a “low-pressure” way to participate in social media, a goal Threads might potentially be able to achieve. Sometimes it’s best that off-the-cuff social media discussions eventually float off into the ether. Or, as TechCrunch points out, this could be handy if you’re posting about a live event, where the posts wouldn’t make sense weeks or months later.This isn’t the first time Threads has looked at creating temporary posts. Instagram Head Adam Mosseri recently suggested the idea of auto-archiving, where users could select a specific date to have all of their previous posts hidden from view. He introduced the idea in a poll on the platform, where users overwhelmingly voted against the idea.
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Instagram introduced post archiving in 2017, but it has to be done manually one-by-one, and you can put hidden posts back on your feed at any time.The OG ephemereal messaging app, of course, is Snapchat, which Facebook famously tried to acquire in 2013 for $3 billion. (It later opted for WhatsApp at $16 billion.) Meta instead rolled out its own version of many Snapchat features, from Stories to face filters.
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