We can say confidently Snapchat made self destructing messages cool. It is a game changer and it has been copied by other social networks. Telegram Messenger has it on Secret Chat, Gmail has it using a Chrome extension and now Facebook seems to be testing it with their now independent Messenger platform.
According to Buzzfeed, Facebook Messenger is testing a way to have disappearing messages like the ones we have on Snapchat. On Snapchat, they disappear after 24 hours but on Messenger, they will disappear an hour after being sent. There is an hourglass icon that is used to toggle the feature on and off. When you want to send a disappearing message, you only need to tap it and send your self destructing message.
It was only a matter of time for Facebook Messenger to adopt the feature. It has over 700 million active users with a solid platform that includes its own concierge service, gaming platform, video calling and VoIP service in addition to the basic chatting features. It is a force to be reckoned with, but according to Facebook, it is only “1% finished” so we are yet to see the full capabilities of the platform.
Currently the feature is only available in France but you can bet if it is popular and successful, they may decide to roll it to all. As a side note, it would be great if they also ported the functionality to WhatsApp too, which is even more popular than Facebook Messenger and this will properly the usher the age of disappearing chats.
