Twitter is testing out a new feature that's similar to Stories on Snapchat and Instagram.
The company announced a tool dubbed “Fleets,” which are disappearing tweets on Wednesday. Twitter is giving the feature a trial run in Brazil and based on the results, Fleets could spread to the rest of the company's userbase.
It's called Fleets because the messages are essentially fleeting. Unlike traditional tweets, Fleets cannot be retweeted, liked or publicly replied to. Much like Instagram's Stories feature, users can only react or send the person who posted content a direct message.
Fleets appear at the top of users' home page and are based primarily on text, but videos, GIFs and photos can be added.
Twitter's test comes years after Snapchat kickstarted the wave of disappearing content with its stories in 2013. Other tech giants soon followed, releasing rival versions of the tool on Instagram, Facebook and others.
I am a rather active Twitter user.
And I'm not really sure that I understand why this is needed?
If the trial is expanded here to the U.S., I'll invest a little more time in figuring out what it's about.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt