Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Technology
Jamie Harris & Shivali Best

Twitter launches Instagram Stories-inspired Fleets that disappear within 24 hours

Twitter is rolling out a feature similar to Instagram Stories and Snapchat where people can share posts that disappear within 24 hours.

The move is a major evolution from the social network's core purpose, which sees tweets kept on an individual's profile for all to see unless they proactively decide to delete them.

Fleets - a take on the term fleeting moments - is 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.

People can choose to post text, reactions to tweets with the tweet attached, photos or videos, as well as the ability to customise them with background and text options.

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

Twitter Fleets (Twitter)

Fleets from accounts a person follows will appear along the top their home timeline.

Plans are already in motion to add stickers and live broadcasting.

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.

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

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

"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.

"In the coming days, everyone globally will have Fleets on Twitter for iOS and Android."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.