iWorld
Twitter tests disappearing messages through ‘fleets’
MUMBAI: Twitter in India is testing out a new way to have conversations about your fleeting thoughts on the service – fleets. They disappear after 24 hours and there aren't any likes, retweets or public replies. The company said, "We learned from research that people don’t tweet because tweets are public, feel permanent, and display the number of retweets and likes. We hope fleets will empower many more 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."
For Twitter to serve the public conversation, which is its mission, more people need to feel comfortable having conversations. There need to be more ways to have conversations on Twitter with less pressure and various controls. Fleets are fast and familiar. People can tap on their own avatar to start, add text or media and hit send.
Namaste! Starting today, Fleets are coming to India. If you’re in India, check it out and let us know what you think! #FleetsFeedbackpic.twitter.com/U6QiHynm1U
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) June 9, 2020
Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari said, “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.”
Fleets from the accounts one follows are always right on top of one’s timeline. People can see who’s seen their fleet by looking underneath a post. They can tap on someone’s avatar to see what the person has shared since they last were on Twitter. Alternatively, one can also find an account’s fleets by looking on their profile page.
To create a new fleet, follow these simple steps:
● Tap the avatar on the top left of your profile to create a new fleet
● Start typing or tap a media icon to add photo/s or video/s
● Tap ‘fleet’ to post
To view someone’s fleet:
● Tap an avatar to see their latest fleets
● Swipe down to see newer fleets and up to see older fleets
● Swipe left or right to see fleets from other accounts you follow
To engage with your followers on fleets:
● Buttons to reply and react are available when direct messages (DMs) are open
● Followers can reply privately via DM or quickly react with an emoji, and continue the conversation privately in DMs
● Replies and reactions will appear in DMs along with the fleet they are responding to
People can also report a fleet using the ‘…’ menu
Twitter group product manager Mo Al Adham said, “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.”
Since starting to test fleets in Brazil, Twitter has seen people become more comfortable sharing what’s on their minds. People who don’t usually tweet are starting more conversations and sending both fleets and tweets. When people send a fleet, they often share a number of thoughts rapidly.
Fleets will be available for everyone in India on Twitter for iOS and Android in the coming days in updated app versions.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
