Update: As of November 19th 2020, Twitter has announced Fleets are temporarily paused due to ‘performance and stability problems’. Yes, after just one day.
Twitter has rolled out tweets that disappear after 24 hours after extensive testing in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea. They’re called Fleets, for some reason, and function pretty much exactly like the Stories feature on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and even Slack.
Twitter said: “You can Fleet text, reactions to Tweets, photos or videos and customize your Fleets with various background and text options. To share a Tweet in a Fleet 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.”
So let’s see, the Fleets all appear at the top of your Twitter feed in little circle icons featuring the Fleeter’s profile picture, just like you can on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and even Slack.
They last for 24 hours, and you can react to them with emoji or message responses, just like you can on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and even Slack.
You can also see a list of people who’ve viewed your Fleet, just like you can on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and even Slack.
But they are NOT called Stories.
Sorry for all the feet content btw but it’s what Twitter went with for their promo material. #FeetFleets?
Twitter do acknowledge that “This format may sound familiar to you! We’ve learned that some people feel more comfortable joining conversations on Twitter with this ephemeral format, so what they’re saying lives just for a moment in time.”
Everyone globally will have Fleets on their iOs or Android within the next few days. There’s no information yet about whether the stories Fleets will be viewable on desktop or not.
