Twitter Launches Ephemeral Tweets Called 'Fleets' for All Users

Twitter today announced the worldwide launch of a new ephemeral tweet option called a "Fleet," which will last for 24 hours on the social network before disappearing. Much like stories on Instagram or Facebook, fleets are located at the top of the Twitter timeline.

twitter fleet example
Fleets have no retweets, likes, or public comments, do not show up in search or moments, and cannot be embedded on external websites. Prior to today's launch, the fleets feature was in testing in countries that include Brazil, India, South Korea, and Italy.

Twitter says that it hopes the addition of ephemeral tweets will help people feel more comfortable sharing casual thoughts and opinions without the pressure of gaining retweets and likes. In countries where fleets were tested, Twitter says that people talked more on Twitter and were more open to sharing what was on their minds.


Fleets can include photos or videos and can be customized with different background and text options. The feature can be accessed by tapping on the "Share" icon at the bottom of a tweet and then choosing the "Share in Fleet" option.

Short-lived content like fleets has been popular on other social networks. Snapchat was the first social network to implement ephemeral content, and since then, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Instagram all have "story" option where content is deleted after 24 hours. Until now, Twitter has had no equivalent.

Fleets are rolling out today on iOS and Android, and will be available for everyone in the coming days. For MacRumors readers, make sure you're following the MacRumors Twitter account where we share news stories, interesting forum threads, fun facts and tidbits, and in the future, more casual fleets.

Tag: Twitter

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
33 months ago
In related news, I managed to hook up my printer directly to my paper shredder.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MisterSavage Avatar
33 months ago
Great. Because we need "stories" in another application. :rolleyes:
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kalafalas Avatar
33 months ago
did the marketing department really not google "fleet" before launching this? My fellow gays know what I'm talking about....
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
crawfish963 Avatar
33 months ago
Twitter needs to go the way of MySpace.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsplusmacs Avatar
33 months ago
OK Boomers.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kardinal1911 Avatar
33 months ago

did the marketing department really not google "fleet" before launching this? the gays know what I'm talking about....
I definitely thought about this and im not gay... but my brother had a few bottles under his sink... I never brought it up but now I know LOL
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)