Facebook is an ever-evolving space that is working with multiple platforms at the moment. And, with the recent merging of Instagram’s direct messaging with Messenger, a bunch of new features (including chat themes and colors) has made a popular appearance. One of the recent features to roll out is the ‘Vanish Mode’ for Instagram DMs and Messenger. The rolling out of Vanish Mode is in line with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement from last year where he suggested the company would strategically move away from working on the News Feed to enhancing private messaging.
How do I activate it?
It’s super simple if you haven’t tried it out yet. Make sure your app is updated to begin with. And just by swiping up on an existing chat, you should be able to activate the chic-looking, black-screen, incognito, Vanish Mode. Texts, memes, GIFs, stickers – anything sent on this new chat will be erased when you slip back to normal mode and any message sent on this chat will vanish once it’s read by the receiver. Quite similar to Snapchat’s existing features, the added option of ‘Allow Replay’ allows people to replay your text before the disappears for good. At the moment, the Vanish Mode can only be used on one-on-one chat and not group threads.
And what about my safety?
The good news is that if any of the users involved in the Vanish Mode chat thread choose to screenshot or replay a message, the other user will be notified about it. While this feature is activated only in chats with members you are connected with on those platforms, users will still be able to block or report anyone as per usual if they face any unwanted messages. Additionally, if someone reports a disappearing chat, the report will be registered anonymously. Further, those reported messages will be decrypted by the Instagram/Messenger team and sent securely to the Help Team for review.
So, swipe up! Because there isn’t a better chance to be spontaneous and silly in private messages.
