Facebook adds 'secret conversations' and self-destructing messages

It was during the month of July that Facebook announced that it was working on a new functionality for Facebook Messenger, that of secret conversations. The new functionality together with self-destructing messages are now available to all users of this social network.

Secret conversations on Facebook Messenger is a new functionality with which you can start a conversation that only you and the recipient can read. This feature was already present in other instant messaging services, such as Google's new Allo.

How to activate secret conversations in Facebook Messenger

To activate this functionality we will have to do the following:

• We access the Facebook Messenger application. We enter a recent conversation or start a new one. Now, we will have to click on the information icon "i" that appears in the upper right part of the screen. In this way we will access the request of said contact. The next thing to do is click on "Secret Conversation" and a new chat will automatically open with a dark interface.

All the messages that we send and receive within this modality will be totally private thanks to the famous end-to-end encryption. Under a secret conversation you can not send animated gifs or videos but you can send images, emoticons and share our location.

Self-destructing messages

The other function that was added is that of self-destructing messages once the recipient has read the message. To activate the self-destructing messages we have to click on the stopwatch icon that we will see in the bottom right of the screen within the chat and choose the time that we want them to be visible before disappearing… or destroying themselves.

What do you think of these new additions? Do you think it can affect Snapchat a lot?