Thank or no thanks to bugs, Twitter Fleets aren’t fleeting as should be.
Like other popular social media platforms, Twitter’s version of Stories, Fleets, is meant to last for 24 hours and disappear into thin air afterward.
Surprisingly, Twitter Fleets have remained accessible after a 24 hours count. Who – or in this case, what – do we have to thank for this — a bug.
Now, other users are viewing and downloading Fleets without the knowledge of the authors.
The Fix
The Twitter tech team are aware of this error and are working to rectify it.
In an email, a Twitter spokesperson announced that a fix would be made available shortly.
He revealed that they could access the bug via a technical workaround.
The said “workaround” seems to be an app that’d possibly scrape Fleets from public accounts using Twitter’s API. After 24 hours, the API will not return URLs for Fleets.
According to Twitter, once the fix is available, URL’s for active Fleets won’t work after the 24-hour window.
Although Fleets are only visible to the public for 24hours, Twitter stores Fleets for up to 30days; more so, offensive Fleets that require further litigations are stored for much longer.
During the typical 30 days window, Fleets are accessible to users via their Twitter Data download folder.
ALSO READ: Twitter Fleets: Users Compare New Feature To Snapchat Stories
About Fleets
Fleets are essentially the same as Whatsapp or Instagram stories; you can view them. But you can’t like or share them.
And, when you reply Fleets, you only respond directly to the author. Several Twitter users commented on Twitter’s initial promotion of the feature.
It somewhat doesn’t sound like a needed feature on Twitter. The platform seems to thrive more on the conversations and banters that millions of users can share in, all at the same time, other than personal messaging.
However, it’s sad that this one seemingly trivial feature is giving them some trouble. What do you think about Fleets? By the way, the title has a good ring to it. But, what do you think about it as an added feature on Twitter? Cool or no? Let us know in the comment section below.
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