Twitter is launching its version of Stories – known as “Fleets” – to all of its users worldwide today. This feature, which enables users to share content that vanishes after 24 hours, was previously available in several markets, including Brazil, India, Italy, South Korea, and Japan.

During a press conference on Monday, the company also announced its intention to test a new social networking feature centered around audio, resembling the currently popular app Clubhouse.

Similar to Clubhouse, Twitter’s upcoming audio spaces will facilitate live conversations between individuals or groups of people.

Moderation presents a considerable challenge in this area, given the real-time nature of live audio. Clubhouse, even in its limited, invitation-only testing phase, has experienced instances of moderation shortcomings, including harassment of a New York Times reporter and discussions containing anti-Semitic viewpoints.

Despite ongoing efforts to develop tools for combating online abuse – such as the Hide Replies function and updated conversation controls – Twitter has yet to consistently demonstrate an ability to effectively address online harassment and trolling, or to establish a responsive reporting system for user complaints.

Considering the increased difficulty of moderating live audio compared to text-based posts, Twitter’s investment in this space is likely to draw criticism from those skeptical of the platform’s capacity to ensure safe conversations.

Twitter is not immediately releasing live audio spaces to everyone. Instead, the company is initiating testing with a select group of users believed to be capable of providing more valuable feedback than those currently using Clubhouse.

“Ensuring safety – and users feeling comfortable within these spaces – is paramount. We must achieve this to allow people to fully utilize live audio spaces in beneficial ways,” explained Maya Gold Patterson, Twitter Staff Product Designer, during a briefing for reporters.

“Therefore, we will take a different approach,” she continued. “We will initially launch this experiment to a small group – specifically, individuals who are disproportionately affected by abuse and harm on the platform: women and people from marginalized communities.”

The reason behind Twitter’s decision to pursue audio so promptly, despite arriving late to the Stories format, remains somewhat unclear.

According to Joshua Harris, Twitter Director of Design, the company’s delay in launching Stories stemmed from a “methodical exploration of how the format would function for Twitter users.”

This explanation is not entirely accurate. Twitter’s delayed entry into the Stories arena wasn’t due to careful development; rather, the company had prioritized improvements to its core product over introducing new features.

Recent developments, including the involvement of activist investor Elliott Management Group and Silver Lake – who acquired a significant stake in Twitter earlier this year – have prompted a shift in focus. These firms aimed to encourage greater innovation and new leadership within the company. (Subsequently, an agreement was reached to prevent the removal of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, secure board seats, and appoint a board member with expertise in technology and artificial intelligence.)

As reported by The New York Times, one investor had previously urged Dorsey to step down, citing Twitter’s relatively unchanged product over the years.

The absence of Stories on Twitter was highlighted in some reports as an area where the company lagged behind its competitors in terms of innovation during Elliott’s campaign.

However, Dorsey publicly disagrees with this assessment.

 

The rollout of Fleets followed closely after this restructuring. This intervention may also explain the company’s current accelerated effort to enter the emerging field of audio-based social networking.

Twitter acknowledges the comparisons between its audio spaces test and Clubhouse.

“We believe audio is experiencing a resurgence across numerous digital platforms,” noted Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter Product Lead. “It will be interesting to observe how other platforms explore this area, but we also consider it a crucial area for us to investigate,” he stated.

Regarding Fleets, there are no changes to the product beyond its expanded global availability.

Fleets, in its current form, offers a straightforward implementation of the Stories format, appearing at the top of the Twitter timeline. Users can directly post text, photos, and videos to Fleets, or share existing tweets and reactions. Replies to Fleets are sent via direct messages (DMs), mirroring the functionality of Stories on other platforms. Twitter anticipates adding more formats and creative tools to the feature in the future.

Twitter also announced ongoing work to introduce standard voice tweets to Android devices, along with transcriptions for these tweets and other media in 2021. The company is currently testing audio messaging within direct messages in Brazil.

Furthermore, Twitter hinted at upcoming features designed to encourage more considerate and respectful interactions among users. These may include in-app reminders and prompts, as well as options for friends to privately offer feedback or apologies to one another.

“We are exploring methods for private feedback and apologies on the platform,” said Christine Su, Twitter Senior Product Manager. “This could manifest as a notification – a gentle nudge from someone you follow – or a prompt you’ve seen before.” No further details or rollout timeframe were provided.

Fleets is now available in all markets where it hadn’t previously launched, starting today. The audio spaces test is scheduled to begin with a limited group of users shortly.

(Post updated 11/18/20, 2:45 PM ET to include Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s dispute about the influence of activist investors on Twitter’s product direction, as well as additional details about the firms’ agreements with Twitter.)