• by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, December 13, 2016

There’s a folk song that begins, “If you miss the train I’m on, you will know that I am gone,” which is kind of an after-the-fact clue that is so very incredibly unhelpful.

I wonder what good this Instagram addition to the world of Snapchat-like disappearing content is. I’m not so alone on this, for which I’m thankful.

Tom More, CEO and founder of Promo, a social video creation platform notes, pretty accurately, that “marketers already have constrained budgets and limited time – and the disappearing act for videos that they’ve put effort and resources towards shows little to no reward. Instagram’s newest feature is not a worthwhile avenue for brands.”

I’ll admit: I don’t see the allure of live disappearing “civilian” video in general, except for situations so rare and specific that I can’t imagine what they might be. Marketers could use these things, I suppose, but while live video might have intimacy that looks like engagement, it’s hard to believe a marketer couldn’t find a better way to reach their audience than via a fleeting glance.

“Groups can be created while sending a Snap, or when you’re making a new Chat. When your friends are present in a Group Chat, we show their name at the bottom of the Chat,” a Snapchat blog post explains today. Snapchat touted it as a just-in-time-for-the-holidays thing.

I guess it could be.

Chats sent to a Group are deleted by default after 24 hours and can only be opened and replayed once by each recipient. And if you don’t see it in 24 hours, you’re just out of luck, just like any other Chat.

So many rules. It’s funny that as online video has facilitated instant demand for existing content, it’s created new timetables for an ordinary conversation.

pj@mediapost.com