Threads Confirms Experimentation with Ephemeral Posts

As reported earlier by us, Threads confirms officially that it is now testing a new feature that allows users to publish posts that disappear after 24 hours.

This is a similar concept to the Fleets feature that Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) once had but discontinued citing low usage.

Threads screenshot by TechCrunch

Key points about this feature:

Here's a brief summary to help you understand this new threads feature easily:

• Ephemeral nature: Posts will automatically be deleted after 24 hours.
• Limited testing: The feature is currently being tested with a small group of users.
• Replies and quoted posts: Replies and quoted posts will also disappear after the original post's timer expires.
• Fediverse compatibility: Disappearing posts won't be shared with the fediverse due to the limitations of deleting posts from other ActivityPub-powered servers.

Reporting on this latest feature of the Threads app, news sites shared that this feature could be beneficial for users who want to share temporary or off-topic content without it becoming permanent and it is going to be the most helpful feature of a social media app for brands, politicians, other public figures, all celebrities, influencers, and common users as well.

TechCrunch wrote that these 24-hour expiring posts will be helpful for users to start a commentary post that would be irrelevant after the event ends.

So, will you be posting timer-activated threads or "Ephemeral Posts" on Threads?

However, these are the same 24-hours-expiring status updates as you do on Whatsapp and on Facebook Stories but for the main timeline, not on a dedicated place on the app.