Twitter's Fleets, One Month In

Twitter finally rolled out “Fleets” last month, becoming the latest platform to adopt the Stories format. Will it catch on?

A Fleet is a “fleeting” tweet (get it??). According to Twitter, “Fleets are for sharing momentary thoughts.” Like Stories on other platforms, they disappear from view after a day, which typically leads to more casual sharing (since you don’t need to worry about it being on your profile forever).

Anyone paying attention to our updates over the past few years will not be surprised: Ephemeral content has been trending up for some time.

How it works

Here are a few key features:

  • Like Stories on other platforms, each Fleet shows up in a tray at the top of the Twitter feed. A user’s Fleets are also viewable by tapping their profile picture.

  • You can Fleet text, photos, and videos, along with various background and design options.

  • Share a Tweet in a Fleet (similar to sharing an Instagram post in a Story) by tapping the “Share” icon at the bottom of the Tweet and then tap, “Share in Fleet.”

  • Reply to Fleets with text or emoji reactions

  • Coming soon: Stickers, live broadcasting, and collaborative Fleets.

Note: So far, Fleets are only available on mobile.

“Those Tweets that never got past “Drafts” can finally see the light!”
— Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour

As brands adjust their social strategies heading into 2021, you may want to consider using Fleets to better engage your Twitter audience. Here are a few ideas for businesses:

  • Share your fans’ Tweets in a Fleet

  • Share your most popular Tweets in a Fleet to get more reach

  • Post a limited time offer (it will automatically disappear, after all)

  • Share the same style of content you’re posting on other Stories, like BTS (behind-the-scenes) action, live event updates, or multi-page updates

  • PRO TIP: Review your account’s DM settings to ensure you’re able to receive and respond to your Fleet replies

Twitter-Fleets-1-min.png

Why it matters

Like every new feature on social media, it’s often a good idea to test the waters and make yourself comfortable with it. But it’s also usually wise to not go wild. Rather than being an early adopter, it helps for brands to see how regular users interact with a new feature before embracing it whole-heartedly (and dedicating resources to it).

With Fleets, this especially makes sense. So far, reception seems to have ranged from uncertainty to outright mockery, which wasn’t helped by some technical issues with the roll out. That said, it sounds like Twitter plans to build out more functionality in the coming months. So don’t write it off just yet!

Related News

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Social Media UpdatesMatthew DooleyDec 2020