Joining Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube for sharing disappearing content, Twitter is now testing its own version of Stories. Labeled as Fleets, users will be able to post momentary content that will last for a short span of time and will behave differently to that regular tweets posted on Twitter.

What is Twitter Fleet?

Fleet, as the name suggests is something that passes quickly and Twitter, being popular for its smart use of words, has done it again – Fleets instead of Tweets, geddit? Twitter will let you post ephemeral content on its platform in the form of Fleets which, unlike regular tweets will only last up to 24 hours. Fleets will be displayed in its own section, atop the main timeline, something you might have gotten accustomed to on Instagram.

Another interesting thing is that Twitter has designed Fleets to be less accessible as compared to ‘Stories’ on Snapchat and Instagram. While you will be able to visit someone’s Fleet if their account is public, the same cannot be shared externally or searched for on Twitter.

How a fleet is different from a tweet?

While you can type up to 280 characters and attach images, videos, and GIFs to your Fleet like you would on a tweet, there are some significant differences. Unlike the regular tweets, you won’t be able to like, retweet, or reply to a Fleet.

Instead, you can either respond to a Fleet with a text message or reaction emojis, However, your response won’t be public and can only be viewed by the person you sent it to. The responses to your fleet will be available inside your DM. While you scroll down to view the latest tweets in your timeline, Fleets can be scrolled horizontally with taps on either side to move on to adjacent fleets. Swiping left and right on fleets will let you switch between others’ fleets.

As for the way Fleets will be made visible, the limited-time posts from the people you follow and who follow you back will be the ones to first pop up on your feed and will be followed by the accounts you follow. Tweets, on the other hand, show posts from the accounts you follow in the order of recently posted.

Are Twitter Fleets available worldwide?

Twitter is currently testing Fleets among employees internally. The feature is also available for users in Brazil, which is the company’s way of determining whether the new feature can help people be more comfortable when sharing stuff on Twitter.

The feature will be available to both Android and iOS users in Brazil after updating to the latest app version. The company has also confirmed that it will rollout Fleets to other markets once the feature gets positive reviews during the testing period.

How can I get the Twitter Fleets feature right now?

Twitter chose Brazil as its test market for Fleets which means only if you’re in Brazil right now, will you be able to access the latest self-destroying tweet feature.

You can access Fleets on Twitter by updating to the latest Twitter app on Android and iOS, but only in Brazil.

When will I get the Twitter Fleets feature?

Twitter says that Fleets will be progressively released in other markets after successful testing in Brazil. The test might run for a few months before Twitter rolls it out for users across the globe. So, unless you’re someone in Brazil, Fleets on Twitter will not be available to you as of now.

Is a Twitter Fleet similar to Snapchat’s Story feature?

Although Twitter Fleet gets its basic inspiration from Snapchat Stories, there are some differences. While Snapchat doesn’t limit users with a particular text limit when posting Stories, you can only type up to 280 characters, just like any other tweet, when sharing Fleets on Twitter.

Twitter, however, matches up Snapchat’s strengths as users will be allowed to post videos of up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds (or 512MB) length in contrast to Snapchat’s mere 10-second limit. Even on Instagram, where users are known to share a ton of stories, the platform restricts videos beyond the 15 second limit inside a single story.

Twitter will have more work to do sorting out which fleets users might want to view from the people they follow and also the ones who mutually follow them. Unlike on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, personalizing Fleets will be harder than usual as more often than not users on Twitter follow hundreds and thousands of others.

Are you excited about Twitter’s Fleets? Would you be more comfortable sharing tweets that last up to 24 hours? Let us know in the comments below.