For those who want social media posts to be fleeting, Twitter has joined the club.
Following the lead of Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, Twitter on Tuesday introduced a feature called Fleets, The New York Times reported.
The feature will allow users to post text and photos that will automatically disappear after 24 hours, the newspaper reported. Fleets will be rolled out to Android and iPhone users worldwide, the company said in a blog.
https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/1328684389388185600?s=20
“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,” Joshua Harris, a Twitter director of design, told the Times. “We can create a space with less pressure that allows people to express themselves in a way that feels a bit more safe.”
Harris and product manager Sam Haveson, who co-authored the company blog, said the idea was tested successfully 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,” Harris and Haveson wrote. “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.”
Ephemeral sharing was introduced by Snapchat. Evan Spiegel, CEO of the company’s parent, Snap, said he noticed that young people wanted to keep their photos and chats private and temporary when he founded the company in 2011, the Times reported.
Fleets appear at the top of the app in round bubbles, with the icon of the user who posted them in the center, NBC News reported. Once posted, they stay for 24 hours and then expire, and they are no longer accessible.
Users can also send direct messages from a Fleet post, according to NBC News.
Twitter officials said the company is offering more tools for users to report harmful or abusive content.
“There is a ton we’re doing behind the scenes, expanding our rules and trying to prevent abuse and harassment before it happens,” Christine Su, a Twitter product manager, told the Times.
