Social media platform, Twitter, announced Wednesday that, as of August 3, it will end its disappearing post feature, Fleets, after it failed to generate a desired increase in user engagement. 

Fleets automatically deleted images, videos or texts after 24 hours, a feature similarly incorporated across other social media apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Snapchat.

Twitter was the last social media platform to use the disappearing stories feature by rolling out Fleets in March 2020.

“We had big hopes for Fleets, but now it’s time to say goodbye and take flight with other ideas. Starting August 3, Fleets will no longer be available,” a tweet from Twitter support said.

“We had planned for Fleets to help people feel comfortable joining the conversation in a low-pressure way, but it turns out Fleets were mainly used by those Tweeting the most,” the company added.

Twitter, in the meantime, said it was exploring other ways for people to share on the platform.

“We learned a lot from Fleets and we’re excited to focus on newer and better ways to start conversations on Twitter. We’re proud of the work so far and have no plans of slowing down,” the company stated.

It added: “Taking big chances helps us make the best product possible for you, but it doesn’t always work out like we planned. It’s not always easy to say goodbye to a feature like Fleets, but we’re excited to get back to work on what we’ve got planned next.”

For his part, Ilya Brown, head of Product, Brand and Video ads at Twitter, said in a blog post that, the company will “explore more ways to address what holds people back from participating on Twitter”. 

“… And for the people who already are Tweeting, we’re focused on making this better for you,” he continued. 

While revealing that most Fleets include media from people who “enjoy quickly sharing photos and videos to add to the discussion on Twitter”, Brown said the company will soon test updates to the “Tweet composer and camera to incorporate features from the Fleets composer – like the full-screen camera, text formatting options, and GIF stickers”.

And though Fleets will be no more, Twitter will not end Twitter Spaces, a feature that allows live audio conversations to take place among its users.

“The top of the timeline continues to be a good spot to highlight what’s happening right now, so you’ll still see Spaces there when someone you follow is hosting or speaking in a live audio conversation,” Brown noted.