Twitter Just Launched Its Own Version Of Instagram Stories With Disappearing Fleets
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, Twitter announced officially rolled out Fleets, after testing out the concept of disappearing tweets earlier this year. Fleets, which launched globally, will give users a lower pressure alternative to share their thoughts and start conversations — and have it all disappear from view after 24 hours. If you're ready to get started, here's how to use Twitter Fleets and share all the "fleeting" thoughts you'd like.
Keep in mind the feature will be rolling out in the coming days, meaning there's a chance you won't see it on your Twitter Feed right away. If you don't see it right away, try updating your app. Once you do get it, you should see something that looks like a Snapchat Story or Instagram Story timeline at the top of your Feed. You can check out other peoples' Fleets by tapping their username icon with a circle around it at the top. To make a Fleet yourself, you'll need to tap on the plus icon located at the top left corner to get started. Keep in mind that while you cannot like or retweet a Fleet, the whole point of the new feature is to create a more informal dialogue and there are plenty of cool things you can do.
Similar to starting a one-on-one DM conversation with a Story reply on Instagram, you can respond to peoples' Fleets by tapping on it and sending a Direct Message or emoji reaction. You can also post text, as well as videos with overlay text and background color editing features. Similar to Instagram Stories, you are able to see who DMs you and a list of people who've seen them. You can also "Fleet a tweet," which is basically sharing a tweet on your Fleet similar to how you'd share an Instagram post on your Story. At launch, people can screenshot your Fleets without your knowing.
The biggest change from a standard tweet is that all Fleets disappear after one full day, which Twitter hopes will alleviate some of the pressure around posting. When testing out the new feature in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea, design director Joshua Harris and product manager Sam Haveson said in the blog post that they noticed people with Fleets were more likely to engage in conversation on Twitter.
"Those new to Twitter found Fleets to be an easier way to share what’s on their mind," they said in the Nov. 17 blog post. "Because they disappear from view after a day, Fleets helped people feel more comfortable sharing personal and casual thoughts, opinions, and feelings."
While Fleets is very similar Instagram and Snapchat Stories, at launch, you won't be able to customize who can see your posts. However, it wouldn't be surprising if that changes in the future, as Twitter said in a Nov. 16 demo of the feature that it plans to adopt many features 'Gram users may recognize, such as a live broadcasting option and stickers.
