Snapchat’s hugely popular “stories” format of sharing text, photos or videos that disappear every 24 hours has been copied and slightly altered by other massive social media websites – names like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have all adopted the feature. Even employment and business website LinkedIn is thinking about implementing stories.
Now, the one social media titan missing from this equation is finally getting stories, though with a slight change, says TechWeez. Twitter is testing stories, rebranded as ‘Fleets’, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the ephemeral nature of the stories and the name of Twitter’s messages.
Unlike regular tweets, Fleets disappear in 24 hours and are not able to get retweets, likes or public replies. Fleets can only be reacted to with DMs. Similar to Instagram, you can view Fleets by tapping on the avatar or profile.
Product lead at Twitter and co-founder of Periscope, Kayvon Beykpour, made the announcement yesterday via his Twitter profile. “I know what you’re thinking: THIS SOUNDS A LOT LIKE STORIES!” Kayvon says, admitting the similarity between Fleets and the Snapchat’s touchstone experience.
He, however, insists that there are a few intentional differences in order to “make the experience more focused on sharing and seeing people’s thoughts”.
Stories are one of the most used and popular ways that people share their lives online, and this feature should be no different.
In response to this announcement, Twitter users have begun trending #RIPTwitter, harkening the site’s end. Many users feel frustrated that the Twitter brass is giving them a ‘stories feature’ instead of the much-requested ‘Edit Tweet’ feature.
