The feature has found its way to other apps as well, the new future will allow a limited time for messages to be viewed for a certain duration before they are deleted.
Telegram, WeChat, and BlackBerry’s BBM have had this future for some time now. It now appears Facebook is looking to bring this functionality into its Messenger app.
As per a screenshot posted by Twitter user iOSAppChanges, the Facebook Messenger for iOS version 68.0 was seen with “disappearing messages” inside a chat window.It suddenly reminds me of Mission Impossible. Each time Ethan got a new project through a tape. It said “This Message Will Self-Destruct in Five Seconds”.
While Snapchat has become popular, among youths, it should come as no surprise that Facebook would try to imitate the service slightly.
So why has Facebook thought of permitting this feature? The first reason is to contest with rival messaging app Snapchat. It was one of the first apps to popularise self-destructing messaging especially photos.
Second reason is user Privacy. Facebook-owned WhatsApp of late enabled end-to-end encryption and it was received by the community.
For now, we are not sure if Facebook will also remove disappearing messages from its servers once it is removed from the Messenger. How Facebook defines the rules of private messaging, is something we look forward to seeing. Even though the social media giant is playing catch up in this field, it is known to define privacy standards in the industry. Let’s wait till the official statement comes out.
Techunzipped