Twitter to shut down Fleets

The ephemeral tweet format being abolished just eight months after launch

Merely eight months after its launch, Twitter is shutting down ephemeral tweet format Fleets. The format is being abolished due to low usage, according to media reports.

Starting August 3, instead of Fleet, users will see live audio chat rooms at the top of their timeline.

 “We hoped Fleets would help more people feel comfortable joining the conversation on Twitter,” Ilya Brown, Twitter’s vice president of product, reportedly said in a statement. “But, in the time since we introduced Fleets to everyone, we haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped.”