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

Fleets are for sharing momentary thoughts; they help start conversations and only stick around for 24 hours. Through Twitter tests in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea, they learned Fleets helped people feel more comfortable joining the conversation and saw people with Fleets talk more on Twitter. Those new to Twitter found Fleets to be an easier way to share what’s on their minds. Because they disappear from view after a day, Fleets helped people feel more comfortable sharing personal and casual thoughts, opinions, and feelings. These are early findings from Twitter tests.

You can text, react to tweets, photos or videos, and customize your Fleets with various background and text options. To share a tweet in a Fleet tap the “Share” icon at the bottom of the tweet and then tap, “Share in Fleet.” Then, add what you think about it with some text or emojis. Soon, stickers and live broadcasting will be available in fleets.

That thing you didn’t Tweet but wanted to but didn’t but got so close but then were like nah.

We have a place for that now—Fleets!

Rolling out to everyone starting today. pic.twitter.com/auQAHXZMfH

— Twitter (@Twitter) November 17, 2020

Your followers can see your Fleets at the top of their home timeline. Anyone who can see your full profile can see your Fleets there too. If you have open Direct Messages, anyone can reply to your Fleets. If you want to reply to a Fleet, tap on it to send a Direct Message or emoji to the author, and continue the conversation in your Direct Messages. Fleets will be updated over time with new features, based on your feedback.

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

It seems there will be a Fleets bar in the new apps—we don’t have it yet—but it’s unclear whether you will be able to turn it off. We certainly hope Twitter will offer this as an option.

Fleets also take away one of the best features of Twitter: that all posts can be located with a URL—even ancient tweets that form a historical record. Since Fleets just disappeared, that isn’t quite so compelling.

Have you tried Fleets?

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