What was a fleet on Twitter?
Fleets were Twitter’s version of disappearing posts. Introduced in 2020, they let you share temporary content that vanished after 24 hours. You could post text, photos, videos, or reactions to tweets.
Fleets appeared at the top of your Twitter feed, similar to Stories on other social platforms. You’d tap a circular profile picture to view someone’s Fleet.
To create a Fleet, you’d tap the “Add” button in the top left corner of your Twitter app. Then you could choose to share text, photos from your camera roll, or new photos and videos.
Fleets offered a low-pressure way to share thoughts without them sticking around forever. But Twitter removed the feature in 2021 due to low usage.
How did Twitter Fleets work?
Twitter Fleets let you share temporary posts that vanished after 24 hours. To create a Fleet, you’d tap your profile picture at the top of your feed. You could add text, photos, videos, or reactions to tweets.
Fleets appeared in a row above your main timeline. Your followers saw them there, similar to Instagram Stories. You couldn’t like or retweet Fleets. If someone wanted to respond, they had to send you a direct message.
The feature aimed to encourage more casual sharing without the pressure of permanent posts. But it didn’t catch on with users, so Twitter removed Fleets after less than a year.
Why did Twitter remove Fleets?
Twitter got rid of Fleets in August 2021, just nine months after introducing them. The feature let you post tweets that disappeared after 24 hours.
Fleets didn’t catch on with users like Twitter hoped. Not many people were creating or viewing them regularly. Twitter decided to focus on other features that were more popular instead.
The company wanted to improve how you interact on the platform. They felt Fleets weren’t helping achieve that goal. By removing them, Twitter could put more effort into things you use more often.
Twitter learned from the Fleets experiment. It gave them ideas for new ways to make tweeting easier and more fun for you.