Facebook is testing Self-Destructing Messages for Messenger App

November 13, 2015  By Pierluigi Paganini


Facebook is testing a Self-Destructing Messages for its Messenger, at the moment the feature is available for some users in France.

This is the silent war of the social media, now Facebook is planning to offer its users a Snapchat-like feature in its Messenger app, the company is implementing the Self-Destructing Messages.

The new feature will allow Facebook users to send self-destructing messages.

Snapchat is a video messaging application that allows sending videos and messages, dubbed “Snaps,” that recipients can view for a limited time, it has been estimated that in May 2015 the app’s users were sending 2 billion photos and videos per day.

Facebook Self-Destructing messages
Now some Facebook users in France have discovered this new feature in the Messenger app that lets them send messages that Self-Destruct after an hour.
“Facebook is testing a disappearing message option within its Messenger app in France, giving users the option to have their messages self destruct one hour after sending them. The feature will bring ephemeral messaging to Facebook Messenger for the first time, taking a shot at Snapchat, the company’s biggest messaging competitor.” states Buzzfeed.

Users can enable the self-destructing message by tapping the hourglass icon on the top-right corner of the Messenger conversation. Enabling this mode Facebook sets the messages to self-destruct after an hour. To restore Facebook Messenger normal behavior user has to tap again the hourglass icon.

“We’re excited to announce the latest in an engaging line of optional product features geared towards making Messenger the best way to communicate with the people that matter most.” states Facebook.“Starting today, we’re conducting a small test in France of a feature that allows people to send messages that disappear an hour after they’re sent. Disappearing messages gives people another fun option to choose from when they communicate on Messenger. We look forward to hearing people’s feedback as they give it a try.”
Last year, Facebook has tested a similar self-destructing message feature, Slingshot, but without success.

At the time I’m writing, the feature is only available to a limited number of French users.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Self-Destructing Messages, Facebook)



Pierluigi Paganini
Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.





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