media update’s Talisa Jansen van Rensburg walks you through the features of Fleets and how to use them.

So, why is Twitter including 'Fleets' to its platform? Well ...

Kayvon Beykpour, CEO of Periscope and a product lead at Twitter, tweeted the following message, talking about why Twitter is looking at add the Fleet feature: 

Image sourced from Twitter


Regardless of the goal of Fleets, it is important to understand what it does and how it works in order to stay on top of social media trends.

So, what exactly are Fleets?

Fleets are Twitter ‘Stories’ that appear at the top of your timeline and disappear 24 hours after it has been posted. This means you can add text, an image or a GIF onto your feed for all of your followers to see — momentarily, at least!

In terms of aesthetics, a Fleet looks like a normal tweet that is just inside the story feature. These posts are horizontal and users can post more than one Fleet at a time.

Image sourced from Twitter

What can and can you not do with Fleets?

According to the platform, you can’t retweet or like a Fleet. “We’ve been listening to this feedback and working to create new capabilities that address some of the anxieties that hold people back from talking on Twitter."

The platform also says that it hopes that people who feel uncomfortable tweeting will feel much more at ease knowing that, when they share something on their timeline, it will be gone in 24 hours. This is great news for users as Twitter is all about speaking your mind and focusing on different situations and topics.

And because these topics are not always ‘lighthearted’, users will now be comforted in the knowledge that they can share their opinion in heated discussions without having to worry that those thoughts will still be out there once a particular situation has cooled down.

If you want to contact a user who posted a Fleet, you will have the option to send DMs; users can add any public comments on them.



Sam Sheffer, a content creator on YouTube, also tweeted a few questions about the new Fleets feature, and Twitter actually sent out a response! Take a look:

Can you create or view Fleets from your desktop?
No.

Can you restrict them to certain groups?
No.

Will you be able to view performance metrics from Fleets?
Yes!

Will there be a private, historical log of all your Fleets?
No


Will Twitter make Fleets available to everyone?

So far, Twitter is only testing this feature before deciding whether or not it will be a permanent addition to its platform. Because it is only being tested in Brazil at this point, it is difficult for global users to give Twitter clear feedback. They can only speculate as to whether or not they will like this added feature.

Currently, #RipTwitter is trending. A lot of users are saying that they didn’t ask for this feature and that all they wanted was an edit tweet button.

Image sourced from Twitter


Image sourced from Twitter


What are your thoughts about the addition of Fleets to Twitter? Do you think it should make it available to all users? Let us know in the comments section below.

Weshu... oratile ditaba tjarena akere na? Refe maikutlo agago.

If your brand is looking to make use of Twitter, then be sure to read How to use Twitter for business: A five-step guide for beginners and get those tweets rolling in!
*Image courtesy of Pixabay