Techniques for ephemeral message are described. In one embodiment, an apparatus may comprise a delayed-action worker module operative to wake according to a wake timer; determine a current update object for a delayed-action cursor for a recipient update queue for a messaging system, the delayed-action cursor associated with an action delay for the recipient update queue; determine a delayed-action activity for the current update object; perform the delay-action activity for the current update object; determine a next update object for the delayed-action cursor for the recipient update queue; and determine a next wake timer for the delayed-action worker module based on the action delay and a creation time for the next update object. Other embodiments are described and claimed.