Twitter testing disappearing 'fleets' in Brazil

Twitter Inc said on Wednesday it was testing tweets in Brazil that disappear after 24 hours, similar to the stories feature by Facebook's photo-sharing app Instagram. Called 'fleets', the vanishing messages are viewed by tapping on a user's profile picture, and people can only react to them with direct messages, Kayvon Beykpour, the company's product lead said on Twitter.

The move comes as the social media company is looking to make its platform more user-friendly and bring in more people through measures such as allowing people to follow topics and by trying to clean up abusive content. Late last year, Twitter launched a feature for users to hide certain replies on their tweets.

"We're hoping that Fleets can help people share the fleeting thoughts that they would have been unlikely to Tweet," Beykpour said.