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Sorry for the confused rant that follow (Hopefully HN will auto-delete it in 42 hours ): The variable duration of the message adds one additional layer of comp
by GistNoesis 5y ago
Sorry for the confused rant that follow (Hopefully HN will auto-delete it in 42 hours ):
The variable duration of the message adds one additional layer of complexity to the already messy game of social communication.
It's not like a session at the park or a phone call that once you close it, it's over.
I already had trouble understanding the concept of ephemeral message, like you say something to me but expect me to not remember it in one hour, so why say it in the first place.
It gets even more confusing when people don't remember what they have told you in the past and change their mind.
I am also confused by the fact they acknowledge that this is pointless in an adversarial scenario. It's like submitting to the rules of social norms instead of playing reality ; But people who are fluent in social communication will instinctively use it for soft lies while others suffer trying not to infringe stupid rules.
It's like a social norm that restrict usage of external memory (and by extension internal memory). Why not make alcoholic beverage consumption or taking memory-suppressant-drugs mandatory then ?
This change of rule distort the game and not for the greater good as only cheaters will take advantage. Promises now only hold for the duration of the timer.
What value of the timer, am I supposed to put so that people are comfortable. I don't necessarily want to pressure them in answering quickly, but also I don't want to always be sending weak signals by always configuring a different default, and I don't want to handle the various other people timers preferences.
- andrepd 5y agoI think you're making a wrong comparison here. Disappearing messages is not akin to forcing the other party to take memory-suppressant drugs (wtf?), it's more akin to asking them not to record your conversation.
- hoseja 5y agoIf you remember something in your brain, you have recorded it. Electronic records are only different in scale/capability and guaranteed perfect recall.
- Symbiote 5y agoThe scale and guaranteed perfect recall are not "only" different, they are fundamental differences. I would find it odd if someone were writing down everything I said. I already find it quite strange when I write something (on Signal or similar), and the person responds with a quote-reply of something I said years ago. "But I thought you wanted to visit Moscow?" or even "I'm sure you said you wanted to visit Moscow" are quite different from "here's the message you sent on 2019-02-05 at 14:32 telling me you wanted to visit Moscow".
- hoseja 5y agoI have met several people who can tell me "You told me in the afternoon in early february that you wanted to visit Moscow", with me barely remembering it, that the line is blurry.
- GistNoesis 5y agoNot recording the conversation would be something akin a no-log session, or the view-once message they already have. Semantically here it's like the self destruct message they send in Impossible Mission but with a very long timer, it's a new primitive I'm not used to handled yet. A garbage-collector for your memories like I am inviting the Langoliers into my phone.
- quaintdev 5y agoImagine people had the ability to revisit your every single conversations with them. Would your relationships improve or degrade?
- GistNoesis 5y agoIf you are in a high trust environment, once you accept that both yourself and people can change, are subject to external factors and have an open mind with enough forgiveness, having this ability to revisit conversations is a net positive. If people are not adversarial then all extra information that you can handle properly is good. It will also help people perceive a lot more depth in other people. And that will help good relationships grow and help avoid bad relationships. It will help alleviate miscommunication issues and give more weight to intent.
- abdullahkhalids 5y agoSnapchat already has the notion of disappearing messages (or at least media), and it has remained extremely popular among the young crowd who want to share things with their peers that they don't want recorded. It's not a super alien concept, but it requires getting used to a new social norm. It is difficult, but I don't think one can really get it without actually embracing the concept without questioning it.