Last November, I wrote about Twitter incorporating a stories-like feature called “Fleets” to its social media platform allowing users to post content for 24 hours before it disappears.
On August 3rd, the feature was removed since Twitter has not seen an increase in the number of people using it.
In a Twitter blog, the company had this to say: “Although we built Fleets to address some of the anxieties that hold people back from Tweeting, Fleets are mostly used by people who are already Tweeting to amplify their own Tweets and talk directly with others. We’ll explore more ways to address what holds people back from participating on Twitter. And for the people who already are Tweeting, we’re focused on making this better for you.”
Going forward, the top of the timeline will feature “Spaces,” which is basically a live audio conversation that you can take part in. The top of your timeline will highlight when a follower goes live and you can join in on the conversation.
Twitter will continue to test what works and listen to feedback to see how they can better serve their users.
I believe Stories are a good way to keep users who are currently on the platform engaged. However, I dont think it will attract new users to a platform. The feature has been around since 2013. Stories are not anything new.
Twitter recently launched a pilot the US to test the potential for e-commerce. Brands and businesses can showcase products on a business profile and users can scroll through images and will be taken to the business’s website to purchase.
Let’s see if this increases the number of users on the platform or if this will be another feature that will disappear only a few months after it is introduced.