Twitter to remove ephemeral Fleets feature
Fleets will no longer be available on Twitter starting Aug. 3 due to low users, the social media platform announced Thursday.
“In the time since we introduced Fleets to everyone, we haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped,” Twitter said of the decision to remove the feature likened to Facebook’s Myday stories and Instagram stories where posts expire after 24 hours.
The feature was launched in Nov. 2020 in hopes to “help more people feel comfortable joining the conversation on Twitter.”
Instead, the company observed that the feature was mostly utilized by those who already tweet regularly to boost their tweets and talk directly with others.
we're removing Fleets on August 3, working on some new stuff
— Twitter (@Twitter) July 14, 2021
we're sorry or you're welcome
Despite Twitter’s decision to shut down Fleets, it will continue to explore its media sharing capabilities.
“Soon, we’ll test updates to the Tweet composer and camera to incorporate features from the Fleets composer–like the full-screen camera, text formatting options, and GIF stickers.”
Twitter was able to run full-screen and vertical format advertisements through Fleet ads test and will continue to assess its performance on the platform.
Twitter Spaces, where live audio conversations happen will continue to appear on the uppermost part of users’ screens where Fleets are also placed.
(Images from Twitter)