“Fleets” by Twitter

March 10, 2020

Here we go, another “stories” mode on a different social media platform!  This time, Twitter are testing the waters with something called “Fleets”, which they are assuring us is not totally like IG Stories;

I know what you're thinking: “THIS SOUNDS A LOT LIKE STORIES!”. Yes, there are many similarities with the Stories format that will feel familiar to people. There are also a few intentional differences to make the experience more focused on sharing and seeing people’s thoughts. pic.twitter.com/OaGYZpChcN

— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) March 4, 2020

However, much like Stories, users will see a profile icon at the top of their feed to denote a new Fleet, the difference being that these Fleets wont be overtly public;

People often tell us that they don’t feel comfortable Tweeting because Tweets can be seen and replied to by anybody, feel permanent and performative (how many Likes & Retweets will this get!?). Many of us can probably empathize with this: https://t.co/LW2xWlctZi

— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) March 4, 2020

I mean, these are very much like every other Story mode but with slight variations – instead of tapping through to get to the next story (or fleet), you’ll be swiping down – keeping in line with how you scroll through your Twitter feed. Fleets are currently being tested in Brazil for Android and iOS with no word on when it’ll be available to the rest of us.

I’m quite looking forward to this, as an avid user of Instagram Stories, having a version of this for Twitter is definitely a step in the right direction for interacting with people but not in an overly public way!