Self-destructing messages

Happy Friday, makers! Today is our last day in Portugal. We’re soaking up as much of those rays as possible before the long journey home. Here’s a blast from the past: Remember Limewire and the viruses that went with it? You really had to be there. 

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You can never delete a photo once it’s on the internet?” It’s likely something your parents have said over and over again, and for the most part, it’s true. The internet, like an elephant, usually remembers everything. But there are exceptions to the rule.

Snapchat was one of the first to exploit this with its self-destructing photo messages, and Instagram eventually got in on the fun. 

YOSO, or ‘You Only See Once’, takes that concept and spreads it across any app. Upload a photo from your gallery or snap one in-app, set the duration to one, five, or fifteen seconds, then generate your link, and share it in any app of your choice. Once your recipient opens the link, the photo will self-destruct after the set time limit.

According to the team, the idea stems from their experience using dating apps: 

“Chatting on Tinder with Matches, we realized how monotone the conversation felt with just text. What if we could enrich the chat by adding photos? It would surely spark more lively discussions!” said Head of Marketing, Catrina Wei. 

From there, they started to think about bringing the ephemeral features on Instagram and Snapchat to a wider market, and thus, YOSO was born. 

YOSO is in its early stages, and the team are eager to keep building. They even plan to expand into text with the upcoming 2.0 version. 

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