What you need to know
- Twitter's stories feature – Fleets is now available to users in India.
- The feature allows users to post ephemeral tweets in a separate timeline that disappear after 24 hours.
- It began testing fleets in March this year.
Earlier this year, Twitter began testing a Snapchat-inspired stories feature called Fleets in Brazil. Last month, the feature was made available to users in Italy as well. Now, the company has begun testing its own version of stories in India (via TechCrunch). India is among the most important markets for Twitter, as the country has around 55 million monthly active users.
Testing, testing…
We’re testing a way for you to think out loud without the Likes, Retweets, or replies, called Fleets! Best part? They disappear after 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/r14VWUoF6pTesting, testing…
We’re testing a way for you to think out loud without the Likes, Retweets, or replies, called Fleets! Best part? They disappear after 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/r14VWUoF6p— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) June 9, 2020June 9, 2020
Manish Maheshwari, Managing Director at Twitter India, said in a statement:
India is important for Twitter since it is one of our largest and fastest-growing audience markets globally. We are excited to bring the Fleets experiment to India and make it one of the first three countries in the world to experience this new product. From the test in India, we'll learn how adding a new mode of conversation changes the way Indians engage on Twitter. It'll also be interesting to see if it further amplifies the diversity of usage by allowing people to share what they're thinking in a way that is light-touch and light-hearted.
Fleets are ephemeral tweets that show up above the main timeline and disappear after 24 hours. Unlike regular tweets, fleets cannot be retweeted or embedded on any third-party website. Fleets cannot be liked either, although it is possible to react to them with an emoji and send replies via direct messages.
Twitter says the feature is being rolled out in phases and is expected to become available for all users in India on Twitter for iOS and Android in the coming days.
