Threads Launches ‘Ghost Posts’ Feature With 24-Hour Disappearing Content

Key Takeaways

Meta announced Monday the launch of "ghost posts" on its Threads social network, a new feature that allows the platform's more than 400 million monthly users to share content that automatically disappears after 24 hours.

The temporary posts, which Meta says are designed to help users share "unfiltered thoughts and fresh takes without the pressure of permanence or polish," will appear directly in Threads' main feed alongside regular posts but vanish from public view after one day.

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Image Source: Social Media Today[/caption]

While the posts disappear from others' timelines, they remain archived and accessible to the original poster.

How ghost posts work on the platform

Users can create ghost posts by toggling a new ghost icon in the Threads compose screen on mobile devices. Once published, ghost posts appear with a distinctive dotted conversation bubble design to distinguish them from standard posts.

The feature introduces a significant shift in how engagement works on the platform. Instead of public replies appearing in the timeline, all responses to ghost posts are sent directly to the original poster's direct message inbox.

Only the person who created the ghost post can see who liked and replied to it, with engagement indicated by smiley-faced icons underneath the post.

Users should note that if they have message requests turned off in their settings, people they don't follow won't be able to reply to their ghost posts.

Those with message requests enabled will receive replies from non-followers in their message request inbox.

Meta's strategy to encourage more sharing

The introduction of ghost posts addresses a growing trend of declining personal sharing on social media platforms.

According to Meta's own data presented in the company's defense against the FTC's monopoly case earlier this year, users are engaging less with updates from friends, which now accounts for only a minor fraction of time spent in its apps.

Meta told TechCrunch that the feature was designed to encourage more low-stakes sharing within the feed.

The company expects users to feel more comfortable sharing spontaneous thoughts, engaging in live discussions, or experimenting with content when they know it won't remain on their profile indefinitely.

Building on Threads' evolution of temporary content

Ghost posts represent the latest evolution in Threads' approach to temporary content, an idea that has been part of the platform's development since its July 2023 launch.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri previously discussed the possibility of auto-archiving posts, though many users opposed making it a mandatory feature.

Threads eventually introduced auto-archive as an optional setting, allowing users to hide posts after a chosen time period.

The new feature joins other recent additions to Threads, including support for text attachments of up to 10,000 characters, a spoilers toggle that hides media or text until tapped, and the introduction of interest-based communities.

Unlike regular Threads posts, ghost posts cannot include photos or images and are not shared to the Fediverse if users have that integration enabled.

This is not the first time a text-based social network has experimented with disappearing posts.

Twitter, now X, tested a similar feature called Fleets in 2020, which appeared as disappearing Stories but was ultimately discontinued.

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