I wonder how much research went into the name "Fleets". To a lot of people, the first thing that comes to mind after "Fleets" is "enema" as in "Fleets enema".
I am not sure Twitter wants to evoke that image.
Then again, maybe this is Twitter acknowledging the toxic nature of Tweets and why they should be flushed out of the system quickly.
I've studied in the US, binged every Sorkin series, scored a 700 on the verbal SAT, and work almost exclusively in an English-language environment. And yet I've never heard of Fleets enema". It's strange what cultural blind spots remain.
That being said, "Fleets" strikes my non-native ears as an above-average naming choice with its double entendre of "Group of something" as well as "fleeting".
(It's also an ongoing pet peeve of mine how risk-averse people are in regards to naming. "CockroachDB" or "Plan B" (the morning-after pill) strike me as hilarious and instant classics of the genre, both evoking a rich set of emotions that fit pretty well with their respective products. I guess it's Keynesian-Beauty-Contest sort of fallacy, where everyone believes all the others are into Playboy models, even though they themselves prefer the Girl-next-door type)
Actually I think you've pointed out a potential confusion. My understanding was they're "Fleets" because they're ephemeral - they get deleted after 24 hours. So they're "Fleeting" definition -lasting for a very short time. Not "Fleet" as in group of boats sailing together. So the name potentially implies they're something they're absolutely not.
Also born and raised in US and have no clue what a fleets enema is.
edit: apparently it’s a brand of enema laxative. I wonder what proportion of people have had to use an enema. I may be in the minority due to young age and being male?
When I hear “fleet” the first thing I think of is a bunch of warships. Up until today, the President sending a “fleet” to another country’s leader would be considered an escalation of conflict or act of war.
A temporary tweet? Why not just call it a chirp? Stick with the bird sounds theme. Are they calling it a fleet because it’s fleeting?
I've never heard of this phrase. At first I thought ships but then within the context of Twitter and their nomenclature, Fleets as temporal and Tweets as short messages made more sense, though I still thought it a terrible name.
I am not sure Twitter wants to evoke that image.
Then again, maybe this is Twitter acknowledging the toxic nature of Tweets and why they should be flushed out of the system quickly.