Fleeting Interactions
You could be forgiven for missing the release of Twitter’s newest feature at the end of last year. Introduced not with a bang but with a whimper, Fleets (stories for Twitter) were rolled out globally in late November, after testing in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea. While the name is witty, Fleets have unsurprisingly failed to catch on. While I write this, just one account I follow has a Fleet posted: the Toronto Maple Leafs, sharing a design you can use as a phone background. Hardly trailblazing content.
The creation of Fleets is indicative of Twitter’s decline as an innovator. Where once they were at the cutting edge of new media, they are now shoe-horning competitor’s features into their platform as a way to stay relevant. Stories are clearly not a natural fit: the content shared on Twitter (primarily text) is not aligned with the visual nature of stories. Furthermore, a key feature of Twitter is exposure (via retweets) to content from people you don’t follow - this is completely lost with stories. But are Fleets more out of place than say, LinkedIn stories? Many users are unaware that LinkedIn even has a story feature, simply because absolutely nobody posts them. Like Twitter, the function of the platform doesn’t lend itself to bite-sized temporary content. But their adoption despite this conflict shows how stories have moved beyond being a feature, to becoming a media format in their own right.
Posts without Permanence
It comes as no surprise that it was Snapchat who first created stories, way back in 2013. The pioneers of temporary content, the feature is a natural progression of the platform’s original functions. Snapchat had the winning formula that every emerging platform craves – it was cool with teenagers. By 2014, 40% of 18-year olds were using Snapchat every day in the US. This success didn’t go unnoticed, and Facebook and its associated platforms quickly adopted stories. But why have they spread to ill-suited platforms like Twitter? Here are three reasons.
Number 1 – No Pain, All Gain
From a creator perspective, stories are low risk, high reward. While people could spend hours crafting the perfect Instagram post and curating their profiles, a story carries less significance. Unlike posts, there is no public evidence of their popularity, and so content can be shared while the stakes are lowered. In fact, this is now the main method of content sharing on Instagram, with stories overtaking feeds in 2018.
From a user perspective, stories instantly satisfy our desire to be entertained. They are low effort, auto-playing with little need to think or act. The quick reaction feature on Instagram stories demonstrates the next stage of this drive towards frictionless interaction. Too lazy to type out ‘lol’? The pre-loaded laughing emoji has you covered.
Reason 2 – Social Norms
People may understand the trends and norms that drive content production on one platform, but be unfamiliar or even intimidated by a new platform. As an avid (addicted?) Instagram user, I have a good intuition about what content will be popular. On other platforms, I am clueless. But a story is now unanimous – if you know how to post a Snapchat or Instagram story, you should know how to post a Fleet. This should make it easier for people to create content when they don’t know where to start.
Reason 3 - Making Content Great Again
Stories have thrived on more superficial platforms, but Twitter differentiates itself from the pack by its ability to facilitate deeper discussion. In recent years, partly thanks to a recently banned Twitter user, controversy has gone hand in hand with this discussion. Stories could be seen as a genuine attempt to make content less polarizing, and more casual.
Of course, these reasons are dwarfed by one simple factor – monetization. If a platform can hold your attention for a few extra minutes per day with a new feature, those eyeballs translate into advertising dollars. Encouraging content creation through stories is simply a way to increase engagement, and by association, revenue. After the launch of stories in 2016, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom predicted the adoption of stories on other platforms, “because it’s one of the best ways to show visual information in chronological order.” This was of course before Instagram realized that disrupting chronology kept us scrolling for longer. The swift abandonment of chronological order shows that while content may be king, monetization is always at the heart of product development. Fleets may seem surplus to requirements, but if they increase engagement, then they’re here to stay.
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