WhatsApp introduced disappearing messages in 2020 as a way for users to send messages that automatically disappear after 7 days. While this can help increase privacy and reduce clutter in chats, there are some notable downsides to enabling disappearing messages.
Privacy Concerns
One of the main disadvantages of disappearing messages is that they may provide a false sense of security when it comes to privacy. Just because a message disappears after 7 days does not mean there are no records of it existing. The recipient can still screenshot or copy the message text before it disappears and then share it with others. There is no guarantee that disappearing messages actually vanish.
In addition, if the disappearing messages feature is enabled for a group chat, any member of the group can screenshot or copy messages before they disappear. This means you are relying on the restraint and honesty of sometimes dozens of other people to keep messages private.
Loss of Important Information
With disappearing messages turned on, any important details, useful links, addresses, phone numbers, or other data sent via WhatsApp will be automatically deleted after 7 days. This can make it hard to reference back to crucial information if you need it more than a week later.
Unless you meticulously save or write down every detail from disappearing messages, you are bound to lose some vital information over time. This forces you to rely more on your own fallible memory. And if you forget to note down something essential before 7 days is up, that information is gone forever when the message deletes itself.
Accountability and Records
Disappearing messages also reduce accountability since there is no record of what someone may have said. Whether it’s a work conversation, family discussion, or other important chat, having a record of what was communicated can be useful for resolving disputes, jogging memories, or holding people accountable.
With disappearing messages, the slate is wiped clean every 7 days, removing useful evidence and records. You cannot prove someone said or did something if the messages containing the details have disappeared.
Waste of Time
If you spend time carefully crafting messages, sending useful information, or having long conversations over WhatsApp, enabling disappearing messages means all that effort was for nothing once the 7 days are up. While the other person may have seen the messages originally, the time you spent communicating is essentially wasted when the chat record is completely erased.
Can Increase Misunderstandings
Since there is no message history available with disappearing messages activated, this can lead to misunderstandings and confusion. If you forget the details of a conversation from more than 7 days ago, you cannot reference back to clarify who said what or what conclusions were reached.
Having a chat record avoids misinterpretations since you can re-read previous messages for context if needed. But without message history, misunderstandings and vagueness increases.
Reduced Functionality
WhatsApp has built-in features that rely on having a message history, such as the ability to search for specific messages and media. With disappearing messages turned on, your ability to search and navigate your chats is crippled after 7 days.
You also cannot pin important messages in chats with disappearing messages, further limiting useful WhatsApp features. The functionality of WhatsApp chats is reduced as a result.
Can Signal Something to Hide
Enabling disappearing messages could signal to others that you have something to hide or are afraid of your messages being seen. While increased privacy is good in many cases, the use of disappearing messages may imply you are trying to avoid accountability or conceal shady behavior from others if used excessively.
Reduces WhatsApp Backups
WhatsApp allows users to backup their message history to the cloud. However, backups will not include any disappearing messages after they have expired and been deleted. So you cannot restore or access old disappearing chats if needed.
By turning on disappearing messages, you are deliberately reducing WhatsApp’s built-in backup capabilities and history. Restoring from a backup provides less useful information.
Can Still Be Seen by WhatsApp
It is important to note that even though messages disappear between users after 7 days, WhatsApp itself still maintains encrypted copies of them on its servers for longer periods of time. So the messages are not truly erased globally and can still be accessed by WhatsApp/Facebook itself in certain situations.
There are also ways for advanced forensics to potentially recover disappearing messages from your device’s local storage before they are automatically deleted. So using disappearing messages does not make your chats totally inaccessible.
Conclusion
While disappearing messages seem private at first glance, they come with a variety of disadvantages: increased privacy risks, loss of useful information, lack of accountability, wasted time crafting messages, misunderstandings, reduced functionality, questionable signal to others, limited backups, and access still possible by WhatsApp/Facebook and forensics. Users should weigh these cons carefully before enabling disappearing messages.