It all began with Snapchat launching Stories! Then, every social media such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and so on launched their own version of Stories. Finally, Twitter too is following suit and has launched Fleets in certain countries such as Brazil, Italy, and now India.
What are Twitter Fleets and how to share them?
Twitter Fleets are just like Instagram Stories where you can share text, photos, videos, or GIFs and they disappear after 24 hours. It is available only on Android and iPhone or iPad app. Before seeing how to use Fleets, make sure your Twitter app is updated with the latest version.
- On the top of your Twitter Home timeline, Fleets shared by the people you follow are shown. Tap their avatars to view them.
- If that person has shared a series of Fleets, just keep tapping to view one by one. You can also move to and fro by tapping or swiping up and down. If Fleets are shared by several people, you can scroll through them by tapping or swiping left and right.
- If the person has open Direct Messages, you can react to their Fleets by tapping the “emoji icon” to send Facebook-style reactions. You can also send Direct Messages by tapping Reply by DM and then hit the Send icon.
Testing, testing…
— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) June 9, 2020
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
How to share Twitter Fleets?
Having seen how to view others’ Fleets, let’s jump on the bandwagon of sharing Fleets.
- On your Twitter home timeline, tap your avatar at the Fleets section.
- You can “Share a fleeting thought…” limited to 280-characters just like a tweet and then tap Fleet to share.
- To capture a photo or video and share instantly, tap the camera icon at the bottom and go to CAPTURE (photo) or VIDEO mode. You can turn the flashlight on and switch cameras by tapping the icons at the top. Once you are done capturing, you can either Retake or Use photo/video and Fleet.
- If you are using a photo capture, you can add text by tapping the Aa icon or just tapping the photo. You can highlight the text by tapping the same icon at the bottom-left and tap Done. You can also adjust the size and orientation by pinching the text with your fingers. Other than this, there aren’t many controls like changing colors, font, etc.
- In the case of video capture, you can mute by tapping the icon at the top-right, but there aren’t any other controls.
- To select a photo or video from your phone’s gallery, tap the “media icon”. You can add text to your photos just like you do in the previous case.
- For videos, you can trim the video using the start and end markers of the timeline at the bottom. You can only post a maximum of 140 seconds of video. “Drag to move selection” and “Tap to zoom selection” on the video timeline for more precise trimming with time markings. Tap DONE to view your edited video. You can also mute the video.
- Tap the “GIF icon” to share GIF Fleets. There are various pre-defined categories present. Toggle on the Auto-play GIFs option for watching the preview. You can also “Search for GIFs” by tapping the search icon.
Once you post your Fleet, you can see who has seen your Fleet by tapping your profile picture on the Home timeline or on your profile > Open Fleets. To post your Fleet as a tweet, go to your Fleet > Tap the three dots > Tweet this.
Fleets are public meaning anyone on Twitter can view your Fleets even if they don’t follow you by directly going to your profile and tapping the profile photo > Open Fleets. If you have open Direct Messages, anyone can react and send replies to your Fleets. Only when your account is protected, your followers will only be able to view Fleets.
Note that Fleets doesn’t have the option for public replies, Retweets, and Likes. Maybe an archive option would be a welcome addition for viewing Fleets as memories later, but that is what tweets are for!