Each morning, you check your social media. You open your three most-used apps -- Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, and check the latest updates from your favorite people.
These three apps are some of the most popular social media platforms among today’s youth. Recently, however, Twitter has been losing ground to both Instagram and Snapchat. They are hoping to make a comeback with a new feature called “Fleets.”
Fleets are like Snapchat stories and disappear after 24 hours, making them more of a casual chat. Whereas the usual social media feed looks polished and professional, Fleets give you a relaxed alternative when you feel like sharing anything. They appear on a separate timeline above the main one, and the most recent Fleets of people you follow will appear first.
You can add GIFs, photos, and up to 280 characters of text to personalize your Fleets. You cannot like or retweet Fleets, and only your followers will see what Fleets you post. Watchers are able to reply to with reactions, emojis, or even Direct Messages.
After 24 hours, only Twitter employees can access your Fleet. In the past, people have lost jobs and other important activities because of their Tweets. Twitter wants to make sure people are comfortable using their interface and not scared to post things, and they are hoping Fleets are a step in the right direction.
Twitter has chosen Brazil in South America to test their new idea. This is because Brazil is one of Twitter’s “most conversational countries.” The company has been working on this feature for over a year now, and very soon, we may all be able to "fleet" our friends!
Sources: TheVerge, Wired