Twitter Testing Ephemeral Tweets Called 'Fleets'

Twitter is considering rolling out an ephemeral tweet option called a "Fleet," which is a tweet that lasts for 24 hours before disappearing and has no retweets, likes, or public comments.

Snapchat was the first major social networking app to feature short-lived content that eventually disappears, but since then, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp and more have added Story options where content is deleted after 24 hours. Until now, Twitter has had no equivalent.

As outlined by TechCrunch, Twitter is testing "Fleets" in Brazil at the current time, and Twitter has shared a blog post in Portuguese explaining the new feature to Brazilian users.

Twitter is adding the feature to allow people to have conversations on the platform in new ways, with less pressure and more control.

Fleets are for you to share your ideas and momentary opinions. These posts disappear after 24 hours and have no Retweets, likes or public comments. In an initial survey, people told us that, once the Fleets are gone, they are more comfortable sharing everyday and everyday thoughts. We hope that those people who are not usually comfortable with Tweeting use Fleets to talk about the reflections that come to their head.

Fleets are similar to tweets and are based on text, but videos, GIFs, and photos can be included. People can reply to Fleets by clicking on one and then sending a Direct Message or an emoji to the person who shared the Fleet.

Fleets are not shown in Search or Moments, and cannot be embedded on external websites.

Twitter's test of Fleets in Brazil will determine whether or not the feature rolls out to the rest of the world. Twitter says that depending on how the testing goes, Fleets could expand to additional countries in the coming months.