We’re getting a Stories Feature called “Fleets” on Twitter ??

First Snapchat, then Instagram, WhatsApp, and now … Twitter!

Apparently Twitter has been developing a new Stories feature called Fleets, reportedly for more than a year, and it’s ready to finally start testing it.

Fleets represent a way for Twitter to better rival Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms that have incorporated the Stories format. It’s clear that Stories encourage new forms of sharing, perhaps even more casual, personal sharing and so it makes sense that Twitter would also want to give its users the ability to intimately express themselves – just like they can with their other favourite apps.

Kayvon Beykpour, the product lead at Twitter announced the news on the platform, writing:

We’re hoping that Fleets can help people share the fleeting thoughts that they would have been unlikely to Tweet. This is a substantial change to Twitter, so we’re excited to learn by testing it (starting with the rollout today in Brazil) and seeing how our customers use it.

Whether they actually will use Fleets on Twitter remains to be seen. Nevertheless, here’s how the new feature works.

How do Twitter Fleets work?

You should see a plus button in a new row that sits above your Twitter timeline. You may see new ephemeral posts from others in this row. Tap the plus button to start a fleet. You can type up to 280 characters of text, add photos, GIFs, or videos. When you post your fleet, it will appear in that new row alongside other Fleets from those you follow, with the most recent visible first.

Although you cannot like or retweet a fleet, you can respond to Fleets with reaction emoji – just like you can respond to tweets in direct messages. You can also respond with text, but that will open up a direct message thread with the person you’re messaging.

Twitter s kicking things off with a test in Brazil. Presumably, Fleets will roll out more widely in the coming months.