Threads is testing automatic archiving of posts

Threads users may soon have a new way to clean up their timelines. The app is testing a new backup feature that can be used to manually back up individual posts or automatically hide posts after a certain amount of time, Adam Mosseri .

As with Instagram, archiving a post in Threads will hide it from public view, although the post will be available for the original author to review or undo. The Instagram executive said the feature will be available to “a small number of people” to begin with. Although not required, Mosseri makes no secret of his preference for all posts on the service to be somewhat ephemeral. “I think we should switch to auto-archiving Threads posts in a month or so,” he wrote in a post back .

But in a poll shared with this earlier post, Threads users overwhelmingly said they would “never” want their posts automatically hidden from public view. In its latest update, Mosseri noted that “the overwhelming feedback was not to make this the default,” so the company will be testing backup “as an option” to begin with.

While archiving old posts is popular on Instagram, the feature can be a bit more controversial on Threads. As the service grows and adds more features aimed at , posts that are automatically archived can make it more difficult to go back and revisit the original update source. (If Mosseri, for example, automatically archived all of his old posts, it would be much harder to follow the evolving thoughts in Threads, which he often shares publicly on the platform.) At the same time, allowing posts to be ephemeral often encourages users to share more often, which is all the more important for the continued growth of Threads.