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by thaumasiotes 3269 days ago
> More to the point, this "killer feature" is easily cloned by a competitor

This doesn't really agree with

> The problem is that this killer feature is easily subverted

Let's let one company implement the feature before we decide it will be easy for competitors to implement it too.
1 comments
gomox 3269 days ago
WhatsApp, Instagram and FB all have it now. TBH I only see widespread use of it on Instagram, but everyone around me seems to have stopped giving a crap about Snapchat since.
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thaumasiotes 3269 days ago
You missed my point. Do WhatsApp, Instagram, or Facebook Messenger have working ephemeral messages? Or do they have marketing that claims they have ephemeral messages?

The feature is fundamentally impossible in exactly the same way as DRM, because it is DRM. You're sending someone a bunch of data and saying "now, you promise not to look at this, right? Except once."

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neksus 3269 days ago
As someone who works on Instagram Direct, I can assure you we have ephemeral messaging.
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thaumasiotes 3269 days ago
How do you stop people from recording their messages?

Snapchat takes two approaches (that I know of): First, they don't stop it, but the messager is supposed to be notified when it happens. They know this doesn't work and can't work, though; avoiding screenshot detection isn't even considered a reportable bug. (see https://hackerone.com/snapchat )

Second, they have a legal barrier, in that using a third-party client to communicate over Snapchat violates their terms of service.

Notably, neither of those makes the messages any more ephemeral. This makes sense, because stopping people from recording messages that you send them is not an achievable goal. Barring some sort of supernatural influence, it's no more achievable for Instagram than it is for Snapchat.

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