Twitter has finally launched Fleets, a feature it announced and has been honing for most of 2020. Fleets are tweets with no character limit, which only last for one day but are pinned to the top of your followers’ feeds.
If you’ve ever used Instagram or Snapchat Stories, these are essentially the exact same thing. You can add text, images and videos, or actual tweets.
Fleets are currently only available in Twitter’s mobile app for iPhone, iPod, and Android devices. Luckily, creating and viewing Fleets is easy.
How to post a Fleet on Twitter
There are two ways to post a Fleet — posting an original Fleet, and sharing an existing tweet as a Fleet.
How to post an original Fleet
1. Start the Twitter app and then tap “Add” at the very top-left corner of the screen. It’ll be to the left of the Fleets posted by users you follow.
You can see Fleets from people you follow at the top of the screen, and create your own using the “Add” button.
2. You’ll be brought to the screen where you can create your Fleet. At the bottom of the screen, pick how you want to make it — you can choose between:
- Text, which will simply let you post text on a colored background.
- Camera Roll or Gallery, which will let you pick a photo or video that’s saved on your phone. If you pick a video that’s longer than 30 seconds, you’ll have to cut a 30 second clip from the video to share.
- Capture, which will let you take a new photo.
- Video, which will let you take a new video. Your Fleet video can be up to 30 seconds long.
3. You can add text by tapping the space on the screen where you want to write. While you’re typing, you can customize the text’s style and color using the toolbar above your keyboard. Tap “Done” when you’re finished typing.
4. If you’ve added text, you can make it larger or smaller by pinching your fingers on it like you would when zooming in or out of a photo. You can also drag it anywhere on the screen that you’d like.
5. If you have blank space on your Fleet, you can tap the colored dot at the bottom-left corner to change the background color. Tap the “Aa” icon to create more text.
6. When you’re done, tap “Fleet” at the top-right to post your Fleet. You can alternatively tap the arrow in the top-left to discard it.
You can customize your Fleet in several ways before sending it.
How to Fleet a tweet
Not only can you create original Fleets, but Twitter lets you turn an existing tweet into a Fleet, complete with commentary. You can share someone else’s tweet, or one of your own.
1. Open a tweet that you want to turn into a Fleet.
2. Tap the Share icon under the tweet, to the right of the Like button. It looks like a box with an arrow pointing upwards coming out of it.
Use the Share button to the right of the Like button.
3. In the Share pop-up menu, tap “Share in a Fleet.”
Tap “Share in a Fleet” to turn the tweet into a Fleet.
4. The tweet will now be turned into a Fleet — you can still add text and edit that text’s color, style, size, and placing. You can also edit the background color using the colored dot in the bottom-left.
5. When you’re done, tap “Fleet” at the top right to post your fleet.
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