Ocasio-Cortez says new Twitter features stress her out

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted Tuesday that she is stressed out about the new Twitter “fleets” feature that allows users to post tweets or videos that will disappear after 24 hours, adding to the wave of criticism from users that the feature too closely mimics similar ones on other platforms. 

“Does the fleets thing stress anyone else out?” the congresswoman wrote. “Like I use Twitter to get away from IG stories, not have it follow me around on every platform reminding me that I don’t have makeup on.”

“Can we put the bar of circles at the bottom at least? (I’m at the bargaining phase of this clearly),” she added. 

Can we put the bar of circles at the bottom at least? (I’m at the bargaining phase of this clearly)

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 17, 2020

The new feature, launched on Twitter Tuesday, now creates a bar at the top of Twitter users’ feed where they can see other people’s temporary tweets and videos. 

“Here’s what you can do. You can write some text. Share a tweet. Record a video. Or post a photo. They’re live for 24 hours,” the social media site explained in a video on Tuesday.

The posts, named after their “fleeting” nature, cannot be retweeted, liked or replied to publicly. 

Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook all have similar features in which people can add to their “stories,” where they remain before disappearing the next day. 

Other Twitter users Tuesday noted the similarities to functions on the other social media platforms, with some arguing that Twitter should have instead created a function for people to edit previous tweets. 

When Twitter tries to force another story function down our throats. #Fleets pic.twitter.com/KVgbPYUUWE

— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) November 17, 2020

So Fleets = Stories = Snapchat = I have a headache. pic.twitter.com/LvNxecXKc5

— Adena Jones (@adena_andrews) November 17, 2020

I know what I want for Christmas: An edit function on Twitter! pic.twitter.com/zFxnUea1vG

— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) November 11, 2020

Following the initial announcement of the feature earlier this year, some users expressed concerns over how politicians and other public officials will be held accountable if they are using the temporary function, including if they share misinformation with followers.