Twitter Launches Disappearing ‘Fleets’ Globally
Watch out Snapchat, Instagram, as Twitter launches its disappearing tweets globally, after testing in selected countries earlier this year
Twitter has confirmed that it has officially launched tweets that disappear (so called ‘fleets’) to its users worldwide.
Twitter called these tweets ‘fleets’ due to their fleeting nature, as they only last for 24 hours. They are similar to the vanishing posts on Snapchat and Instagram Stories.
Earlier this year Twitter tested the feature in Brazil, as well as a few other selected countries such as Italy, India, and South Korea.
Fleets option
But now ‘Fleets’ are being able to the global Twitter audience, as of Tuesday 17 November.
“That thing you didn’t Tweet but wanted to but didn’t but got so close but then were like nah,” tweeted the micro-blogging platform. “We have a place for that now – Fleets! Rolling out to everyone starting today.”
The platform then expanded upon the launch of the service in a blog post.
“Some of you tell us that Tweeting is uncomfortable because it feels so public, so permanent, and like there’s so much pressure to rack up Retweets and Likes,” design director Joshua Harris and product manager Sam Haveson said in a blog post.
“That’s why, unfortunately, there are so many Tweets left in drafts!” they added. “To help people feel more comfortable, we’ve been working on a lower pressure way for people to talk about what’s happening. Today, we’re launching Fleets so everyone can easily join the conversation in a new way – with their fleeting thoughts.”
“Fleets are for sharing momentary thoughts – they help start conversations and only stick around for 24 hours,” they wrote.
They said the testing in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea, helped Twitter learn that people feel more comfortable joining the conversation, saying “we saw people with Fleets talk more on Twitter.”
“You can Fleet text, reactions to Tweets, photos or videos and customise your Fleets with various background and text options,” they wrote.
How To Use It
To share a Tweet in a Fleet, users should tap the ‘Share’ icon at the bottom of the Tweet and then tap, ‘Share in Fleet.’
Then, add what you think about it with some text or emojis. Soon, stickers and live broadcasting will be available in Fleets.
Fleets will appear at the top of followers home timeline.
The two said that Fleets on Twitter for iOS and Android will be available globally to everyone over the next couple of days.
