Celebrity4 min(s) read
Mark Zuckerberg has warned Facebook Messenger users about one thing they should never do in Messenger chats.
Taking a screenshot of a chat exchange has become second nature to many people, whether they're saving a funny chat, keeping track of plans, or sending a conversation to a friend.
But when it comes to disappearing messages on Messenger, secretly capturing what's on your screen may not be so secret anymore.
In a post on his social media platform in 2022, Zuckerberg highlighted screenshot notifications introduced for end-to-end encrypted Messenger chats.
He said: "New update for end-to-end encrypted Messenger chats, so you get a notification if someone screenshots a disappearing message," per The Sun.
"We’re also adding GIFs, stickers, and reactions to encrypted chats, too," he added.
To show how it worked, the Facebook founder shared a conversation between himself and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
After Zuckerberg made a corny joke about a supercomputer, Chan took a screenshot, which led to the notification.
The feature means that when disappearing messages are involved, users should be aware that taking a screenshot can alert the other person.
The platform initially launched Vanish Mode in 2020.
This gave users on Messenger and Instagram a way to send messages designed to automatically vanish after they had been viewed and the conversation was closed.
Vanish Mode worked similarly to disappearing-message features already associated with platforms such as Snapchat.
Users could activate it by swiping up within a chat, and both participants had to agree to use the setting.
At the time, Messenger Product Manager Bridget Pujals and Instagram Product Manager Manik Singh explained: "We designed Vanish Mode with safety and choice in mind, so you control your experience."
The feature was initially launched in the US before later becoming available in EU countries.
Facebook's Help Center now says the platform "no longer supports the feature, but disappearing messages still exist".
"Disappearing messages are gradually being introduced and may not be available to you yet," it explained.
According to reports, users can check for the feature by clicking the name of the person they are speaking with in Messenger, scrolling to Privacy and Support, and selecting Disappearing Messages.
Zuckerberg co-founded the app with his university roommates in 2004, eventually transforming the platform from a way for friends to connect into a global social network used by billions.
Facebook went on to acquire Instagram and WhatsApp before the company rebranded as Meta, reflecting its broader ambitions around artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the metaverse.
The 42-year-old has previously spoken about wanting to move digital interactions beyond the screens people currently rely on.
In an interview with The Verge, he said people shouldn't live through "small, glowing rectangles".
“That’s not really how people are made to interact,” he explained.
“A lot of the meetings that we have today, you’re looking at a grid of faces on a screen. That’s not how we process things either.”
He continued: “In the future, instead of just doing this over a phone call, you’ll be able to sit as a hologram on my couch.
“It’ll actually feel like we’re in the same place, even if we’re in different states or hundreds of miles apart," he added.
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