Twitter also confirmed that it is working on a live audio feature.
Twitter Inc said on Tuesday that it was throwing tweets around the world that disappear after 24 hours, similar to the stories feature that is popular on Snapchat and Facebook’s Instagram photo-sharing app.
Twitter previously announced its plan for these fleeting tweets, dubbed “fleets,” and tested the functionality in Brazil, Italy, India and South Korea.
“Some of you tell us tweets are uncomfortable because it feels so public, so permanent, and there is so much pressure to rack up Retweets and Likes,” said design director Joshua Harris and product manager Sam Haveson in a blog post.
“Because they disappear from view after a day, Fleets has helped people feel more comfortable sharing their personal and informal thoughts, opinions and feelings,” they added.
However, some Twitter users experimenting with the tool said it created worrying opportunities for online harassment, such as allowing unwanted direct messages. It also allows fleet authors to tag people who have blocked them.
Twitter said it was listening to comments and working on fixes for security issues such as the blocking issue.
The fleets, which include text, photos and videos, will be available at the top of users’ personal timelines on Twitter and on the sender’s profile.
Twitter and other big social media companies are under pressure to improve police abuse and viral disinformation on their sites. Twitter spokeswoman Liz Kelley said fleets were subject to the same rules as tweets.
Kelley said the warnings or labels, which Twitter has started to apply to content such as manipulated media and disinformation about civic processes or COVID-19, could be applied to fleets.
Twitter has also confirmed that it is working on a live audio feature, dubbed “ Spaces, ” which it plans to test later this year. The feature will allow users to have public speaking, group conversations. It has similarities to Clubhouse, a social platform in which users are invited to speak in voice chat rooms.
“Given all the potential for abuse in audio spaces, we’ll first make it available to women and historically marginalized communities,” Kelley said.
The company launched a feature earlier this year that allows users to tweet recorded voice notes.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
