Twitter to remove Fleets in August, work on 'new stuff' instead

Twitter on Thursday announced that they will be removing Fleets in August as it didn't meet their expectations and it wasn't able to fulfill much of what they hoped for.

In a statement, the social media platform said that Fleets was intended as a "lower-pressure, ephemeral way for people to share their fleeting thoughts."

"We hoped Fleets would help more people feel comfortable joining the conversation on Twitter," it said. "But, in the time since we introduced Fleets to everyone, we haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped."

Starting August 3, Fleets will no longer be available on the social media platform.

we're removing Fleets on August 3, working on some new stuff

we're sorry or you're welcome

— Twitter (@Twitter) July 14, 2021

Twitter said that using its learnings from Fleets, it will "focus on creating other ways for people to join the conversation and talk about what’s happening in their world."

"Although we built Fleets to address some of the anxieties that hold people back from Tweeting, Fleets are mostly used by people who are already Tweeting to amplify their own Tweets and talk directly with others," it added.

Twitter said it will be exploring "more ways to address what holds people back from participating on Twitter."

"And for the people who already are Tweeting, we’re focused on making this better for you," it added.

Twitter however said that it will test updates to the Tweet composer and camera to incorporate features from the Fleets composer, like the full-screen camera, text formatting options, and GIF stickers.

Users will also continue to see Spaces, a feature that allows people to join in on live audio conversations.

Twitter said it was "evolving" its platform and trying "bigger, bolder things to serve the public conversation."

"If we're not evolving our approach and winding down features every once in a while – we're not taking big enough chances," it said.

"We’ll continue to build new ways to participate in conversations, listening to feedback and changing direction when there may be a better way to serve people using Twitter," it added.

Last November, Twitter launched "Fleets," a feature which allows its users to post content set to disappear after 24 hours.

The "ephemeral format" is similar to Snapchat, Instagram Stories, and Facebook Stories. —Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/JCB, GMA News