Twitter is introducing a temporary form of Tweets, fittingly named Fleets. The feature works a lot like the Story feature on Instagram and Snapchat, and lets you display a message for 24 hours.

 Tweets No Longer Have to Be Permanent

Twitter unveiled Fleets in a post on the Twitter Blog, offering "a new way to join the conversation." Fleets let you express your thoughts for up to 24 hours, and you can do so in the form of a photo, video, or even a shared Tweet.

The platform first started testing Fleets in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea. It found that "Fleets helped people feel more comfortable joining the conversation," and also "saw people with Fleets talk more on Twitter."

Your Fleets, along with the Fleets of those you follow, will appear in bubbles at the top of your timeline. Much like the Story feature on Instagram and Snapchat, you merely have to select a bubble to view the Fleet.

Many platforms, including LinkedIn, have rolled out a Story-like feature, and now Twitter has joined in. Since the feature closely resembles Stories, you shouldn't have any trouble getting used to it.

How to Start Fleeting

Twitter made Fleeting just as easy as Tweeting. Better yet, the feature is set to launch on both iOS and Android, so all users can take advantage of Fleets.

To share a Tweet in a Fleet, start composing a Tweet. Once you've entered your message, hit the Share icon at the bottom of the Tweet.

Share in Fleet Twitter
Image Credit: Twitter

Hit Share in a Fleet, and you'll be redirected to an editing screen that lets you annotate your Fleet. You can only add emojis and text for now, but Twitter plans on incorporating stickers and live broadcasting for Fleets in the future.

Once you share your Fleet, it will stay visible on Twitter for an entire day. If your profile is set to public, any user will be able to see your Fleets.

And if you have open Direct Messages, anyone can reply to your Fleets as well. You can reply to Fleets by tapping on it to send a DM or an emoji.

Will Fleeting Take Off on Twitter?

Twitter is built around Tweeting, which makes Fleeting an interesting addition to the platform. Fleeting will definitely change the dynamic of your timeline, as more people might turn to Fleets (instead of Tweets) to share passing thoughts.

With almost every popular social media platform giving you the option to share temporary messages, the feature becomes a lot less unique. Now, you'll have to decide where to share your fleeting messages: will it be Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter?