Twitter has started testing its own version of stories named fleets in Brazil. The fleets are supposed to disappear within 24 hours.
Once the service is up and running, one will be able to visit a tweeps profile and tap to view the fleets even if you are not a follower. However, one will not be able to share the stories, neither will they show up in search or moments.
Tester in Brazil will be able to see rounded profile icons right at the top of their Timeline on Twitter’s mobile app. This will be immediately recognizable as a Stories feature. The first icon is actually a little thought bubble displaying your own profile photo. Users will simply click on the “+” button to compose their Fleet. The interface for the stories does not allow one to edit much but according to Twitter, this reflects the text centric nature of the platform. However, one will be able to add photos, GIFs and videos.
At launch, consumers will be able to post videos up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds in length (or 512MB). Whitelisted publishers will be able to publish videos up to 10 minutes in length. Users can also post multiple Fleets, which viewers will move through using gestures.
Twitter’s test arrives shortly after activist investor Elliott Management Corp. took a stake in Twitter to push for changes at the social network. The investment firm believes Twitter isn’t living up to its potential and its CEO Jack Dorsey, who the firm wants replaced is distracted by his side projects and by his other CEO job at Square. Twitter is also seen as having lagged behind on innovations. While other social networks have adopted popular features like Stories, Twitter has remained focused only on its core product.