Systems and methods for sharing content

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, by a computing system, an ephemeral message to be shared through a unified message thread associated with a group of users, wherein the group of users includes one or more recipients and a user that created the ephemeral message;

providing, by the computing system, the ephemeral message for distribution through the unified message thread, wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchanged among the group of users through the unified message thread, and wherein each of the one or more recipients is permitted to access the ephemeral message a pre-defined number of times;

determining, by the computing system, that a first recipient included in the one or more recipients has accessed the ephemeral message the pre-defined number of times;

determining, by the computing system, that a second recipient included in the one or more recipients has accessed the ephemeral message less than the pre-defined number of times;

in response to determining that the first recipient has accessed the ephemeral message the pre-defined number of times, providing, by the computing system, a tombstone of the ephemeral message within the unified message thread, wherein the tombstone no longer permits the first recipient to access the ephemeral message through the unified message thread, and wherein the tombstone can be selected to reveal information describing the ephemeral message; and

in response to determining that the second recipient has accessed the ephemeral message less than the pre-defined number of times, providing, by the computing system, a view option associated with the ephemeral message that is accessible to the second recipient, wherein the view option permits the second recipient to access the ephemeral message through the unified message thread.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein a recipient is permitted to view text associated with the ephemeral message without having accepted a message request but not the ephemeral message itself.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the ephemeral message is not visible in the unified message thread to the user that created the ephemeral message.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the user that created the ephemeral message is permitted to view the ephemeral message in the unified message thread for the pre-defined number of times.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

determining, by the computing device, a selection of an option to recall the ephemeral message by the user that created the ephemeral message; and

preventing, by the computing device, the one or more recipients in the group from accessing the ephemeral message.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the ephemeral message to be shared through the unified message thread associated with the group of users further comprises:

providing, by the computing device, a set of options for sharing the ephemeral message, the set of options including at least a first option for sharing the ephemeral message as a story and a second option for sharing the ephemeral message through the unified message thread; and

determining, by the computing device, a selection of at least the second option.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:

determining, by the computing device, at least one notification corresponding to the ephemeral message, the notification describing a seen state for a recipient in the group of users; and

providing, by the computing device, the notification in the unified message thread.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the seen state indicates the ephemeral message was delivered to the recipient, viewed by the recipient, or replayed by the recipient.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein access to the ephemeral message expires after occurrence of some pre-defined event, and wherein access to a non-ephemeral message does not expire.

10. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform:

determining an ephemeral message to be shared through a unified message thread associated with a group of users, wherein the group of users includes one or more recipients and a user that created the ephemeral message;

providing the ephemeral message for distribution through the unified message thread, wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchanged among the group of users through the unified message thread, and wherein each of the one or more recipients is permitted to access the ephemeral message a pre-defined number of times;

determining that a first recipient included in the one or more recipients has accessed the ephemeral message the pre-defined number of times;

determining that a second recipient included in the one or more recipients has accessed the ephemeral message less than the pre-defined number of times;

in response to determining that the first recipient has accessed the ephemeral message the pre-defined number of times, providing a tombstone of the ephemeral message within the unified message thread, wherein the tombstone no longer permits the first recipient to access the ephemeral message through the unified message thread, and wherein the tombstone can be selected to reveal information describing the ephemeral message; and

in response to determining that the second recipient has accessed the ephemeral message less than the pre-defined number of times, providing a view option associated with the ephemeral message that is accessible to the second recipient, wherein the view option permits the second recipient to access the ephemeral message through the unified message thread.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein a recipient is permitted to view text associated with the ephemeral message without having accepted a message request but not the ephemeral message itself.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the ephemeral message is not visible in the unified message thread to the user that created the ephemeral message.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user that created the ephemeral message is permitted to view the ephemeral message in the unified message thread for the pre-defined number of times.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method comprising:

determining an ephemeral message to be shared through a unified message thread associated with a group of users, wherein the group of users includes one or more recipients and a user that created the ephemeral message;

providing the ephemeral message for distribution through the unified message thread, wherein both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages are exchanged among the group of users through the unified message thread, and wherein each of the one or more recipients is permitted to access the ephemeral message a pre-defined number of times;

determining that a first recipient included in the one or more recipients has accessed the ephemeral message the pre-defined number of times;

determining that a second recipient included in the one or more recipients has accessed the ephemeral message less than the pre-defined number of times;

in response to determining that the first recipient has accessed the ephemeral message the pre-defined number of times, providing a tombstone of the ephemeral message within the unified message thread, wherein the tombstone no longer permits the first recipient to access the ephemeral message through the unified message thread, and wherein the tombstone can be selected to reveal information describing the ephemeral message; and

in response to determining that the second recipient has accessed the ephemeral message less than the pre-defined number of times, providing a view option associated with the ephemeral message that is accessible to the second recipient, wherein the view option permits the second recipient to access the ephemeral message through the unified message thread.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein a recipient is permitted to view text associated with the ephemeral message without having accepted a message request but not the ephemeral message itself.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the ephemeral message is not visible in the unified message thread to the user that created the ephemeral message.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the user that created the ephemeral message is permitted to view the ephemeral message in the unified message thread for the pre-defined number of times.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to perform:

determining at least one notification corresponding to the ephemeral message, the notification describing a seen state for a recipient in the group of users; and

providing the notification in the unified message thread.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the computing system to perform:

determining at least one notification corresponding to the ephemeral message, the notification describing a seen state for a recipient in the group of users; and

providing the notification in the unified message thread.