Very Quick Thoughts on Twitter Fleets

(I like them!)

I’m planning to write something longer about why I think Twitter Fleets are interesting and possibly destined for a kind of “success,” however loosely defined that may have to be—particularly when measured against a great number of problems that have yet to be solved on Twitter, such as the president of the United States, harassment and abuse (one avenue for which Fleets actually seem to have made worse), etc.

For now, I tweeted a thought that I’m going to paste here for easy reference later, and to invite responses if any of my followers feel so moved:

A lot of people I follow [are] sharing Fleets that demonstrate a different aspect of their lives than they’d normally show on Twitter. Feels like Twitter used to be, like, a waiting room populated by very clever strangers and now you can see what it’s like when those strangers go home.

By which I basically mean, I think this product possibly represents a kind of cultural shift on Twitter, and that’s very interesting to think about given how much time so many of us spend there.

(For what it’s worth, I don’t think they’ll be super successful at enticing new users, which is one of the company’s stated purposes for them, according to an article we published on OneZero today. Stories are a familiar format, but in this context, they’re also a complication layered on top of an intimidating platform. Or, another way of looking at things, my mom joined Instagram nearly six years ago, about a year and a half before they launched Stories, and I don’t think she’s ever posted one.)

Anyway, more to come in a more official venue later, but let me know if you’ve also got FLEET BRAIN right now.