Twitter has recently released a new feature called “Fleets.”

Twitter is probably not your go-to for social media. Though its beginnings were strong, it’s fallen to #17 on the worldwide rating of social platforms (based on users) – even behind Pinterest today. Still, there are 353 million active users on Twitter, and some of those users are likely to be your customer. Conscious of losing ground in the social media mindshare, Twitter has recently released a new feature called “Fleets.” Here’s what you need to know about them.

A fleet is similar to a Facebook or Instagram story, a post which disappears from view after 24 hours. Story features on other channels tend to get immediate attention because people know they can’t go back and find them later. They can  be text, photos, GIFs or videos, though we recommend video because of video’s ability to grab attention and convey a big message.

Users can’t retweet, like, or reply to fleets, though you can see who viewed or clicked on your own fleets by clicking the “seen by” text at the bottom. And if you allow open DMs, then anyone can react to your fleets by sending you a DM (if you have closed DMS, you can still hear from people you follow).

If people follow you, then they will see your fleets in their newsfeed. But also, anyone who can see your tweets can also see your fleets if they visit your profile.

Fleets aren’t likely to elevate Twitter back to the top of the social media heap, but they are the newest social media feature, and it may be worth doing a few experimental posts to see if they reach some of your audience that you aren’t reaching in other ways.