Twitter Rolls Out ‘Fleets’

Twitte
TWTR
r announced Tuesday that it’s new feature “Fleets” had launched globally. The feature was announced and tested earlier this year, but all users should have the feature over the coming days. 

Fleets are similar to Instagram’s “stories,” it lets users post messages, photos or videos that disappear in 24 hours. Users can respond to other’s fleets with direct messages however, fleets can not be liked or retweeted. Twitter plans to add stickers and broadcasting live video in the future as well. Unlike Instagram stories, users will not be able to tell if others screenshot their fleets currently. Any follower also has access to seeing a users fleets either above the main timeline or on the users page. 

“Through our tests in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea, we learned Fleets helped people feel more comfortable joining the conversation — we saw people with Fleets talk more on Twitter,” design director Joshua Harris and product manager Sam Haveson wrote in a blog post. “Those new to Twitter found Fleets to be an easier way to share what’s on their mind. Because they disappear from view after a day, Fleets helped people feel more comfortable sharing personal and casual thoughts, opinions, and feelings.”

While posting on any social media site can cause anxiety for some, Twitter seems to have a unique problem, often referred to as “getting ratio-ed.” While colloquially, this can mean getting piled on to, it refers to the ratio between a high amount of negative replies and a lower number of likes and retweets. While some of this stems from online bullying, it can often also because some one has shared a damning opinion or misinformation. Fleets might let some users keep their more controversial takes out of this equation, but it is unclear what most users will use the feature for.

Twitter isn’t alone in new features, TikTok unveiled new parental controls and Instagram updated their interface.