You don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got \u2019til it\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n
After a fittingly fleeting time in the wild, Twitter is banishing its ephemeral stories feature known as Fleets, which debuted in November 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n Twitter began testing Fleets back in March of last year. The company thought that it might be able to lure people who were hesitant about collecting their stray thoughts into the platform\u2019s semi-permanent format with a \u201clower-pressure\u201d kind of a tweet. Many major social platforms have some form of disappearing content, so it made sense that Twitter would give things a try too \u2014 but after eight months live, Twitter is killing the feature.<\/p>\n Like Instagram Stories, Fleets lived on top of the timeline, highlighted in their own dedicated space. As fleets phase out, Spaces, Twitter\u2019s Clubhouse-like audio rooms, will occupy the same slot in the app.<\/p>\n if you see a Fleet no you didn’t https:\/\/t.co\/4rKI7f45PL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter (@Twitter) August 3, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The company hoped that Fleets would bring new users under its wing, but the only people who really adopted the new feature were apparently already Twitter diehards. Twitter said it would go back to the drawing board to figure out how to get more people participating on Twitter and Fleets were an unfortunate casualty of that realization. Some members of the product team that built Fleets shared their thoughts on Twitter in the feature\u2019s waning hours.<\/p>\n it’s easy to think fleets was just a stories clone. we never aimed to compete on the best creation tools\/filters\/etc. we wanted to be raw and authentic. non-performative. feel lighter than tweeting. with the unique twitter network as a differentiator.<\/p>\n \u2014 Paul Stamatiou (@Stammy) August 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cIf we\u2019re not evolving our approach and winding down features every once in a while \u2013 we\u2019re not taking big enough chances,\u201d Twitter Consumer Product VP Ilya Brown said in a blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n We can only hope that Twitter\u2019s future products continue the gay sex naming scheme<\/a> that the company accidentally introduced when it named Fleets \u201cfleets.\u201d (Congrats, gay former intern<\/a>!)<\/p>\n To the company\u2019s chagrin, the feature\u2019s swift demise apparently inspired more enthusiasm for the product<\/a> than Fleets had enjoyed previously. Twitter\u2019s tweet announcing the death of Fleets also somehow turned into an iconic enough moment that the company made it into a collectible hoodie that reads \u201cWe\u2019re sorry or you\u2019re welcome,\u201d ensuring that Fleets will live on in our hearts until we inevitably forget they ever existed \u2014 perhaps the most fitting tribute of all.<\/p>\n this hoodie we made for you is also chef’s kiss. check your DMs pic.twitter.com\/JnFaapW0rO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Twitter (@Twitter) August 3, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Twitter is shutting down Fleets on August 3, citing low usage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
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