That was fleeting.
Twitter Inc. is pulling the plug on a short-lived disappearing posts function intended to compete with similar services at rival social-media companies after it failed to boost user engagement.
The function, called Fleets and launched about eight months ago, provides a way for users to post text, photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours. It’s a years-old concept that has flourished on visual-focused apps like Snapchat, owned by Snap Inc., and Facebook Inc.’s Instagram.
Twitter on Wednesday said it would cease providing the Fleets function on Aug. 3.
“We hoped Fleets would help more people feel comfortable joining the conversation on Twitter,” said Ilya Brown, Twitter’s vice president of product. “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.”’
