How Fleets Changes the Game for Churches on Twitter
Fleets was just released on Twitter. What are Fleets? According to Twitter, “Fleets give you the power to use and interact with Twitter in a whole new way, right in the moment. Fleets allow you to share fleeting or transitory thoughts, and after 24 hours, they’ll disappear from view.”
Basically, Fleets are “Stories” for Twitter. Snapchat introduced stories years ago, Instagram and Facebook made it more popular and mainstream and now Twitter is bringing it to their platform. Twitter has never had this usability until now. So let’s break down what it is, how you can use it as an individual and, more importantly, how it changes the game for Churches on Twitter.
How do you get it? Make sure update your Twitter app version 8.44. But it should have been rolled out to every user at this point.
Where does it show up? To find out the latest Fleets from a user, you can click their profile picture on the desktop version. On mobile, it will show up on the top of your feed screen or you can simply click the profile picture of the user.
How do you add Fleets? Simply click the Add button to the top left of your feed and you can go Text something, share a video or photo from your camera roll, take a picture or video. Once you do that you can add text to a photo but you are limited in options after that. This is one of the bigger differences between Fleets and Stories. Stories have more options that you can add such as GIFs and other stickers.
What individuals can do with it? Since Fleet operates just like Stories, I would encourage you to share personal moments or reflections with those who follow you. If you are using Twitter as a Digital Missionary, as I would recommend, share some encouragement and hope from a Bible study or devotional you have done. Use it as a way to minister to others.
What Churches can do with it? Again, like individual use, however you use Stories on other platforms for your Church means you can now do that on Twitter. That is HUGE because you were not able to do this before. NOW, your Church can appear on the top of your Feed daily and those who follow you can get updates and encouragement. For instance, you can share…
- Parts of your worship service on a Sunday morning
- A quick devotional thought from Ministers at the Church
- Behind the scenes footage of what’s happening at the Church
- Bible verses and a challenge
- Recap of an event or services
- Highlight a volunteer
- Play games such as trivia
For the longest time I have said that Twitter is great for individuals and Digital Missionaries, but it hasn’t been the best for Churches. Adding Fleets now enables Churches to do so much more on Twitter and get attention of people throughout the week and on Sundays. Will it increase more engagement, it is still too early to tell. But Fleets are a great new tools that Churches can begin to use and experiment with.
What do you think? Have you used Fleets yet? What do you think? Share your experiences so far below or on social media using #ymsidekick when you share.
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