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Twitter Launches Twitter Fleets. Now What? [Video]

Twitter Fleets

After months of development and speculation, Twitter Fleets, Twitter’s take on Instagram Stories, is finally here.

Competition breeds innovation. That is the lesson taught by many professors to business students around the world. Lately, however, it seems competition is breeding sameness, and that is a growing problem in social media that the newly launched Twitter Fleets won’t help.

Rolling out in many countries this week, Twitter Fleets is essentially Instagram Stories for people who mainly rely on Twitter. Users are able to share text, photos, and videos in posts that will disappear after twenty-four hours. The posts appear at the top of users’ feeds, and they’re arranged based on what the algorithm believes users want to see. Unlike Instagram, there is no augmented reality component, nor is there a ‘swipe up’ feature to link users to sites outside of the Twittersphere.

But does Fleets have a place in the music marketing ecosystem? We’ll let Music Biz host James Shotwell give you the answer:

For those unable to watch the video, the answer is complicated. Musicians who have more Twitter followers than IG followers stand to benefit the most from Fleets’ arrival. As long as fans engage with their content, artists with sizable Twitter followings can circumvent the timeline algorithm and appear at the top of every feed with Fleets. That said, without the ability to link to content outside the platform, Fleets’ power remains surprisingly limited.

This leads us to the question of why Fleets exists at all. On Instagram, Stories are where people post content from their daily lives. The pictures and videos that appear in Stories are fleeting (no pun intended) moments, while the content users post in their main feed is intended to last forever. Tweets, by and large, come with a short life expectancy. The best performing tweets are shared and mentioned for a week or two, at most, before disappearing into a person’s timeline. Far more tweets come and go without any engagement at all. So, what do Fleets offer that tweets cannot?

Given the tool’s infancy, it’s likely Fleets will undergo several changes in the weeks and months ahead. We’ll update our take as needed.

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Twitter is planning to delete dormant accounts in the near future

Twitter users who have not accessed their account in a long time are encouraged to log in before December 11 or risk losing their handles.

Username availability is a growing problem in social media. Much like email before it, social media has now been around long enough that new users are increasingly struggling to find unclaimed handles. For example, if your name is John Smith, you cannot use @John or @JohnSmith or @TheJohnSmith on Twitter. You also probably can’t use @John_Smith, @JSmith, @J_Smith, or @The_John_Smith. Those names are already in use, and getting someone to surrender their handle is often an uphill battle that can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Adding to the frustration is the fact that not all the usernames are in use. Someone claimed the name, but now the account sits dormant. Usernames that many would want, such as @AuxCord, sit unused on social media with abandoned accounts (or worse, accounts that never posted in the first place).

But a reckoning may be on the horizon. Twitter user Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) shared an email they received this week from the social media giant regarding an account he owns that has sat dormant for some time. In the email, Twitter informed Navarra he needed to agree to the company’s terms, privacy policy, and cookie use to continue using the platform. The letter also said they had until December 11, 2019, to access his dormant account. If Navarra failed to do so, they would risk losing their handle permanently.

Navarra, wanting to retain the dormant account, logged into Twitter using a link in the email and captured the prompts that appeared:

The decision to mass delete dormant accounts will open hundreds, if not thousands of desirable usernames to the public. Such a move would boost interest in the social media platform and likely lead to a rise in new accounts, not to mention increased engagement.

Twitter has not publicly commented on Navarra’s tweets or officially announced plans to remove dormant accounts. That said, the company is well within its rights to delete accounts that do not agree to Twitter’s new terms, privacy policy, and cookie use.

Readers hoping to claim a dormant account when they become available should consider using Handlescout. The service, which is free, tracks username availability on Twitter and sends email alerts when desired handles become available.

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PRO TIP: Fake album announcements are risky business

Last weekend was a wild one. Between the leaked Trump tapes and the second presidential debate it was hard for anything unrelated to politics to grab headlines, even in smaller markets. The one exception to this may have been Nicki Minaj, who surprised fans around the globe with the announcement she would be releasing her long-awaited third studio album at Midnight on Saturday, October 8. The rap star turned pop phenom told her Twitter followers the record would be titled Pick My Fruit and that every song was named after a fruit she loved. The tweets still exist, so here they are as evidence:

Considering the fact Minaj last released an album in 2014, fans were understandably excited to learn their favorite rapper would soon be gracing them with new music. Word of Nicki’s plans for the record spread like wildfire, with blogs and publications of all sizes posting the news before the above track list was even posted online. Everyone thought the next day would be filled with hot takes regarding the new record, but as midnight came and went in various places around the planet people slowly realized they were being played:

Minaj never made an official statement regarding her late night social media prank, but much has been written in the days since the incident questioning whether or not the troll was the best idea as it relates to business. 2016 has seen a surge in ‘surprise’ releases announced at the very last minute, and considering that Minaj has only released one song since her last album (the “Pinkprint Freestyle” dropped on September 4) the idea she might release an album out of the blue made a lot of sense. 

Everyone enjoys a good joke, but lying to your incredibly patient fans about the existence of a new record in an age where everyone is champing at the bit for new content pretty much 24/7 is an incredibly risky move. While it would appear that many of Minaj’s fans found some humor in the troll there was also quite a bit of disappointment as well. Everyone has the ability to be patient, especially when it comes to waiting on a new creation from an artist they believe in, but everyone also has their limits. 

If I had to guess I would say Minaj will more than likely release something, be it an album or just another single, in the coming weeks. Her fans may be trying to laugh off the Fruit incident in hopes something substantial is coming soon, but if nothing surfaces I am certain some will begin to look for other artists to support. Minaj may not be your favorite artist, but her words have impacted the lives of millions, and there are many looking to her for support or entertainment with bated breathe. Their excitement should be cherished, supported, and leveraged to urge others to feel the same, but in instances like this it is challenged. Instead of feeling like their adoration inspires their favorite artists they’re told it’s something to be used for amusement/humor. That’s not a good look for anyone, regardless of their popularity at Top 40 radio.

All this said, I am not expecting Nicki Minaj to fall out of the public eye anytime soon. Her career has propelled her far enough into the cultural conversation that one or two PR misfires are only going to have a minimal impact on her fanbase as a whole. The same cannot be said for other, smaller artist who may think teasing new material is a good idea. Those on the come up need to recognize that honesty and integrity go a long way towards securing lifelong fans, and pranks like the one being pulled with Pick My Fruit can potentially do far more harm than good. 

Don’t be like Nicki Minaj. Maintain an open dialogue with fans through honesty and they will follow you anywhere. Leverage their faith in you for your own amusement and they will find someone else to support.

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