Twitter is Killing a Big Feature, Fleets. More Products Should Do the Same.

What if more tech companies actually admitted when they got it wrong?

In late 2020, Twitter launched its Snapchat Stories clone, Fleets, to much fanfare. It promised a friendlier, easier way to share on Twitter, and potential to lower the barrier to entry for those that might be afraid to post.

Just seven months later, Twitter is killing the Fleets feature off entirely on August 3, saying that it took a ‘big chance’ with the feature, but that these types of things ‘don’t always work out as planned.’

While it’s a shame Twitter is shutting off Fleets so prematurely, as I thought it was a fun way to peek into people’s lives, it’s a rare example of a big technology company trying something crazy — and actually admitting when it didn’t work.

Kayvon Beykpour, Product Lead at Twitter said as much in a tweet; “big bets are risky and speculative, so by definition some of them won’t work. If we’re not having to wind down features every once in a while, then it would be a sign that we’re not taking big enough swings.”

As tech as an industry has matured, it’s become common to build big, complicated new features, and then just let them rot when they don’t work out. Or, worse…