Topics add “ghost posts” that disappear after 24 hours

Meta’s

The option called “Hidden Posts” will launch on Monday to thread users around the world.

Users will now be able to create a ghost post on mobile devices by activating the new “ghost” icon on the app’s creation screen. When a post is shared, it appears in others’ timelines with a dotted chat bubble around it to distinguish the post from other content.

Other users on both desktop and mobile devices can reply to the post, but these replies are sent directly to the poster’s direct messages (direct messages); These responses do not appear in the timeline.

Below the post, people can see if others have liked and responded to the hidden post, which is indicated by smiley face icons. But only posters can see the actual number of likes, replies, and who shared.

After 24 hours, posts disappear from the timeline, but are still available to the original publisher from the Archived section, accessible from the main settings menu.

(Note: If you turn off Message Requests, people you don’t follow won’t be able to reply to your ghost posts. If Message Requests are enabled, any replies from people you don’t follow will go to your Message Requests inbox instead. You can adjust these settings from the drop-down menu at the top right of your profile.)

Meta’s parent company told TechCrunch that the feature was designed to encourage more low-risk in-feed sharing.

The addition could also give Threads a new way to challenge Elon Musk’s

This isn’t the first time a text-first social network has attempted ephemeral posts. Before X, Twitter experimented with this type of sharing in 2020 with Fleets, which appeared as disappearing Stories. However, the company withdrew this feature the following year, due to it not being adopted.

At the same time, Meta believes there is still potential for content to disappear, something that has worked well for Stories on Instagram and Facebook, for example. Regarding Threads, the company says it expects to encourage people to share more of their unfiltered thoughts, participate in a live thread, or try other types of experimental content via ghost posts.

The tech giant has been rapidly iterating on Threads since its launch in July 2023, rolling out features like personalized feeds, direct messaging, federated sharing (which connects Threads to open social networks like Mastodon), and, most recently, support for up to 10,000 characters with text attachments, tools for hiding spoilers, and launching interest-based communities.