On November 17, 2020, Twitter has released one of the biggest updates “Twitter Fleets or Disappearing Story feature like Facebook, Instagram” in its mobile app and it’s available for iphone users and all android users starting today. Within the next few days, everyone should have this option on their Twitter mobile app.
On Morning November 17, while sharing the promo video of “Twitter Fleets feature” Twitter wrote on its official Twitter account:
That thing you didn’t Tweet but wanted to but didn’t but got so close but then were like nah. We have a place for that now—Fleets! Rolling out to everyone starting today.
Twitter Fleets has a new section on top of the twitter mobile app. it’s a lot like stories on different platforms like facebook stories Instagram stories, much like snapchat where you could post videos photos or text and they will disappear after 24 hours.
So it has a lot different than the rest of Twitter where you could compose text-based messages or photos and then they always permanently stay on your profile unless you delete them.
These (Twitter Fleets) are disappearing messages that only last 24 hours, much like Facebook stories, if you’ve seen those on different platforms.
So let me show you how to use it right now. again update your Twitter app and if you don’t see Twitter Fleets feature just after this Article, then just make sure you should wait a few days and then you should have it on your home page of the twitter mobile app.
You should see this section on top and these are called fleets. Remember, they’re not called stories, they’re called fleets.
In order to create a fleet, all you have to do is press add icon at the upper left side of the fleets list and it brings you to next page where multiple different things that are available on the page.
For example, it gets access to your camera roll so if you look on the bottom you have a few options. Camera roll means everything that’s on your phone. You could post a picture from there or a video from there.
Next to that is text. The text option just lets you type out a text and post it on the Fleets and this will automatically disappear after 24 hours. So you can just tap here, type out a text and then you have some options like “making your text bold here” and “putting a background against it, changing the color if you want to. I’m sure they’re going to add even more options over here and then you could just press fleet on top and it will post it to that fleet section on twitter.
Next to the camera roll we have capture. With capture, you could go ahead and capture an image. Just tap to take a picture and you can post that picture by pressing fleet on top. You can also add text over here same as the other section. You can add text on top of your images, and then you can use your finger to move that text anywhere within your image.
You also have video option here. So if You go to the video tab, you can go ahead and record a video instead, just by pressing and holding down and then pressing stop and then again you can add text on your video and then you can press fleet on top to add it. You even mute the audio when yoh have video fleet on the corner.
If you go back to “my profile page”, there you can see the Fleets which you have created. If you press it, it takes you to the one you posted earlier. You can always add to it by pressing add icon in the corner and then it takes you back to that same place where you can compose more fleets.
Other people as they create their flets, they’ll show up on top on your profile page. You can select any of them jump into it and then go ahead and see the next one by just tapping on them. You could have multiple fleets on the same account.
I think it’s going to be a very useful option inside of Twitter because Twitter was a little bit limited just to the profile as compare to other social media apps which are adding new features all the time. I’m kind of excited to see this Fleets feature come to Twitter as well.
Twitter’s new ‘fleets’ will disappear after 24 hours
Twitter said Tuesday it was rolling out tweets which disappear after 24 hours, joining rival social platforms in offering ephemeral messages.
The new “fleets” which had been tested in several countries in recent months are “for sharing momentary thoughts” and aim to bring in users who want to avoid having their comments become permanent fixtures, according to a Twitter blog post.
“Those new to Twitter found fleets to be an easier way to share what’s on their mind,” said product manager Sam Haveson and design director Joshua Harris in the blog post.
“Because they disappear from view after a day, fleets helped people feel more comfortable sharing personal and casual thoughts, opinions, and feelings.”
The move gives Twitter a new tool in competing with the likes of Snapchat, which made disappearing messages popular, and Facebook, which has also adopted the idea.
Twitter has become an important platform for politicians, celebrities and journalists, but it has lagged other social networks in users.
In the past quarter it reported 187 million “monetizable” daily active users, trailing Snapchat and Facebook.
Twitter said the new format would allow users to create the same kinds messages as in ordinary tweets, including images, videos and emojis, with the option to have the message disappear.
“Your followers can see your fleets at the top of their home timeline,” Haveson and Harris said.
“Anyone who can see your full profile can see your fleets there too.”
Twitter has been testing the new format in Brazil, Italy, India and South Korea and learned that “we saw people with fleets talk more on Twitter.”
Twitter’s research director Nikkia Reveillac said the new format was aimed at helping people move from a passive to an active role in the Twitter conversation.
“People must feel comfortable and in control” to participate in the conversation, Reveillac told journalists.
“What we learned when we talk to people is that… engaging in conversation can honestly be incredibly terrifying… And we know that this is true in real life. And we know that it is true online.”
Another new feature rolling out to all users is the “voice tweet,” or audio recording which takes the place of text and has been tested in the past few months.
“Sometimes, 280 characters just does not cut it,” product designer Maya Gold Patterson said.
“And sometimes tweeting isn’t the right way of communicating at the moment. And so we were interested in exploring how audio could help add an additional layer to the public conversation.”
Patterson said that “hearing the empathy, emotion and nuance in someone’s voice could help people connect on a different level” than in a simple text tweet.
She noted that voice tweets may also be used by brands to better connect with customers and by journalists to explain their stories.