Twitter launches 'Fleets' in India, says it's a new way to converse on the platform

Twitter has learnt from research that people don't tweet because it is public, they feel Tweets are permanent and because it displays the number of likes and retweets. This goes against the ethos of Twitter: Serve public conversation.

To encourage people to tweet, the brand is testing a new way for users to have conversations called 'Fleets' – it disappears after 24 hours (similar to Instagram's stories) and there aren't any likes, retweets, or public replies.

Because of its fleeting nature, the brand feels it will empower people to express themselves more freely. India is the third market globally after Brazil and Italy where Twitter is rolling out this feature to test.

Manish Maheshwari, MD, Twitter India: “India is important for Twitter since it is one of our largest and fastest-growing audience markets globally. We are excited to bring the Fleets experiment to India and make it one of the first three countries in the world to experience this new product.

From the test in India, we’ll learn how adding a new mode of conversation changes the way Indians engage on Twitter. It’ll also be interesting to see if it further amplifies the diversity of usage by allowing people to share what they’re thinking in a way that is light-touch and light-hearted.”

You can find Fleets of an account you follow on the top of its timeline and account holders can see who's seen their Fleet by looking underneath a post.

To create a new Fleet, follow these simple steps:

1. Tap the avatar on the top left of your profile to create a new Fleet

2. Start typing or tap a media icon to add photo/s or video/s

3. Tap ‘Fleet’ to post

To view someone’s Fleet:

1. Tap an avatar to see their latest Fleets

2. Swipe down to see newer Fleets and up to see older Fleets

3. Swipe left or right to see Fleets from other accounts you follow

To engage with your followers on Fleets:

1. Buttons to reply and react are available when Direct Messages (DMs) are open

2. Followers can reply privately via DM or quickly react with an emoji, and continue the conversation privately in DMs

3. Replies and reactions will appear in DMs along with the Fleet they are responding to

People can also report a Fleet using the ‘...’ menu

Mo Al Adham, Twitter Group Product Manager: “Twitter is where people go to see and talk about what’s happening. We want people to be able to have conversations on Twitter in different ways, with less pressure and more control. That’s why we’re testing a way to share their fleeting thoughts.”

Fleets will be available for everyone in India on Twitter for iOS and Android in the coming days in updated app versions.