Methods and devices are presented for managing communications in an ephemeral communication system. In some embodiments, messages in the system are analyzed to determine a complexity value for the message. This may be based on various algorithms, models, or system associations. The complexity information may then be used to recommend an availability value for the message, and to set a deletion trigger for the message based on the recommended availability value. When criteria of the automatically set deletion trigger are met at a device receiving the message, the message is automatically deleted from the device. In some embodiments, this deletion trigger at the device may also be used to initiate deletion of the message from other parts of the system.