Kenyans on Twitter have refused to accept the introduction of stories on the app accusing it of becoming Instagram ‘which is full of people without content’ and ‘photos of people pretending to be living the best lives’.
This morning, the hashtag #RIPTwitter is trending with many Kenyan users sharing their dissatisfaction with the idea.
On Wednesday, global social media giant Twitter began testing the feature, called “Fleets,” that will allow users to post photos, videos, and text that disappear after a short period of time.
Turns out large sections of the western world and ladies are welcoming the idea. It sounds familiar too because the idea was invented by Snapchat in 2013.
When Snapchat invented stories in 2013, people loved the way they could use the feature to share things without worry, and the app became a major hit. As a result, every social app began to copy it, buzzfeednews reports.
Facebook started the rip-off race when it built a stories feature into Instagram in 2016. “They deserve all the credit,” Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom said of Snapchat at the time. Facebook went on to build stories into every other product it owned: WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook proper. The tech giant probably would’ve built stories into Libra, its cryptocurrency project, if it could.
With Facebook leading the way, the rest of the social internet followed. YouTube did stories. Netflix did stories. Tinder did stories. Even LinkedIn did stories. Yes, freakin’ LinkedIn.
“People have told us in early research that because Fleets disappear, they feel more willing to share casual, everyday thoughts,” Twitter said on Wednesday. “We hope that people who don’t usually feel comfortable Tweeting use Fleets to share musings about what’s on their mind.”
Fleets cannot be retweeted or liked, the company said. They support text, GIFs, videos, and photos.
Twitter is introducing this new feature one week after reports emerged that activist investor Elliott Management bought approximately 4% of the company and is seeking to replace Jack Dorsey as CEO.
Oh, wait, the hashtag is not only trending in Kenya, it is global.
Many expected an edit button but Twitter’s No seems to have been effected by the stories.
Opinions
Welcome to Facebook/Instagram. #RIPTwitter This app just lost its authenticity.
— _Obam (@Sejo_obam) March 5, 2020
At this rate, Twitter will go down. People loved this platform because of simplicity, ease of use and freedom to speak one's mind. But with censorship, the the addition of teen features like Stories, the platform's keeps dying a slow death
— Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@CisNyakundi) March 5, 2020
We ran away from Facebook nd IG because of the story crap,we just love Twitter for savages ?. ?why twitter whyyy????? #RIPTwitter pic.twitter.com/LkbXTYhRjy pic.twitter.com/vUD0jnIZKU
— Ahmed Abdul-Aziz (@chizzy_bronchez) March 5, 2020
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