Just two days after Twitter rolled out its new Fleet function, the platform is struggling to keep up with user demand for its latest service, leading to mixed reviews across the platform.
"We're slowing down the roll-out of Fleets to fix some performance and stability problems," Twitter Support tweeted this morning.
"If you don’t have the feature yet, you may not get it for a few more days. We love that so many people are using Fleets and want to ensure we’re providing the best experience for everyone."
Taking their cues from Snapchat and Instagram stories, Fleets are tweets that disappear after 24 hours. The new function was rolled out in select markets on Tuesday, November 17, including India, Italy, South Korea and Japan, and had been available in Brazil since March. The icon appears at the top of users' timelines on the Twitter mobile app.
“Because they disappear from view after a day, Fleets helped people feel more comfortable sharing personal and casual thoughts, opinions, and feelings,” Twitter wrote in a blog post.
Fleets, which can include text, video, photos and gifs, cannot be retweeted or liked and are not open to public replies. However, if your direct messages are open, anyone can react to your Fleet, whereas if your DMs are private, only your followers can see and react to them.
Reports from users that the update is lagging or even crashing the app have been taken as a sign of Fleet’s popularity, and the platform has said it is working on the problem.
Other users claim the function button has appeared in their app, but they are unable to use it.
The hashtag #Fleet was trending globally soon after the international rollout, and the function appears to be Twitter’s reaction to accusations they have been trailing behind their tech contemporaries when it comes to innovation.
While plenty of users were thrilled with the latest addition to the app, many were lamenting Twitter still not adding an edit button.
Elsewhere, Twitter announced this week their plans to take on audio-based social networking app, Clubhouse – which is still in private-testing phase – by checking their own audio spaces functions, which will allow for live conversations between two people or groups.
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Read more:
10 of the funniest Twitter business accounts to follow: from Netflix to Old Spice
The impact of doomscrolling on mental health: 'Technology shapes user behaviour'
Donald Trump's ‘I won the election’ Twitter message sparks tweetstorm
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
