Are Twitter Fleets catching on as an option, or is it a lesser version of Stories that’s not really adding much to the overall tweet experience?
It’s probably still too early to say, but Twitter is slowly but surely looking to add more Fleets features in order to improve engagement through the tool.
On this front, today, Twitter has added a new Fleets option which enables users to add a background video or image to their Fleets frames, via their device camera or Camera Roll, which significantly expands your visual communications options.
As you can see here, now, when you go to compose a Fleet, you’ll be able to tap on the camera and camera roll access icons within your Fleets composer tools (alongside the new ‘stickers’ option shown here, which Twitter added late last month). That will then enable you to add a larger visual element to your Fleet, providing more options for presentation and engagement.
Twitter designer @shuangsta recently provided some further context on this function in testing, along with an example of how it might be used.
Definitely, it adds something more to the Fleet process, but with most other Stories tools incorporating AR and advanced visual elements, it does feel like Fleets is still a step behind.
I mean, the only way for Twitter to catch up is by releasing new features like this, so it should still get praise for advancing the tool. But it still seems odd that Twitter released a Stories tool that was behind the others from the get-go, as opposed to a more developed, polished option.
Still, Fleets does take up prime position in the app, right at the top of user feeds, which no doubt makes it an intriguing option for many (including marketers), and these new visual tools do add significantly to the Fleets offering. There’s a heap of ways these new elements could be used, and there will likely be some creative examples from brands in the coming months, which will spark more interest in the option.
But is Fleets actually good? Is it adding to the overall tweet usage process?
Again, it’s probably too early to say, and Twitter hasn’t released any official usage info. But given the broader trend towards Stories use, and vertical communication stemming from other apps, it does make sense for Twitter to stay in touch with that shift via their own option, and again, these new elements, including stickers, do add to the process.
Hopefully we’ll see even more Fleets tools coming soon, maybe even more advanced, AR tools or features that will really spark engagement and sharing from the tool.
