Twitter launches disappearing messages called ‘Fleets’

It is similar to new ‘disappearing messages’ feature rolled out by other social networks, giving users the option to create posts that vanish automatically

Twitter has launched a new feature that allows users to make tweets disappear after 24 hours, which will roll out to all users in the next few days.

Called Fleets, the feature is similar to Snapchat, Instagram Stories and WhatsApp’s new ‘disappearing messages’, giving users the option to create posts that later automatically vanish.

Fleets from accounts a person follows will appear along the top of their timeline, much like Stories along the top of Instagram’s landing page.

Fleets – a portmanteau of ‘fleeting’ and ‘tweet’ – cannot be retweeted or receive public responses, but instead must be interacted with through Direct Messages.

Followers can reply to Fleets by sending a private Direct Message, but only if they follow each other or the account holder has their Direct Messages set to open.

Fleets are designed to help users feel more comfortable participating on the platform in a ‘lower pressure way’ without the need to worry about retweets and likes, the firm said.

The feature, which was successfully trialled in Brazil and other countries this year, gives users to option to tweet about something in a more private way, which may prevent them from being harassed by strangers on the platform.

Usually, once a tweet is posted by a user they’re visible on an individual’s profile for all to see unless the user proactively decides to delete them.

Twitter is generally slow to make major changes to its user experience, making the new update a useful addition for users.

The social network still isn’t yielding to user demands to implement an edit button, however.

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, said Twitter’s Joshua Harris, director of design, and Sam Haveson, product manager, 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. To help people feel more comfortable, we’ve been working on a lower pressure way for people to talk about what’s happening. In the coming days, everyone globally will have Fleets on Twitter for iOS and Android, they stated.

Although Fleets from accounts a person follows will appear along the top of their home timeline, any Twitter user who can see another user’s full profile – i.e. if it’s not set to private – can see their Fleets there too.

Just as with a normal tweet, users can choose to post photos, videos and reactions to tweets with the tweet attached, as well as text.

Users can also choose to share someone else’s tweet as a Fleet, complete with their own newly-created caption, by clicking on the upload symbol at the bottom-right.

Plans are already in motion to add stickers and live broadcasting to Fleets, which will be updated over time with other new features, Twitter said.

The tech giant first announced it was testing such a feature in March, with a trial in Brazil, later expanding to Italy, India, and South Korea.

It found from the trials that Fleets helped people feel more comfortable sharing personal and casual thoughts, opinions, and feelings.

Twitter executives admitted the format ‘may sound familiar’, referring to Snapchat who spearheaded the art of disappearing messages and Instagram, which followed suit in 2016 with Stories.

Earlier this month, Facebook-owned WhatsApp also confirmed ‘disappearing messages’ that vanish from chats after seven days will roll out globally on iOS and Android in November.

WhatsApp said the update was designed to give users the option to make conversations ‘feel lighter and more private’.

Instagram has been owned by Facebook since 2012, which is known for its attempts to copy Snapchat’s features – and its rejected offer to buy Snapchat in 2013.