140-character tweets might be a thing of the past
Ah, Twitter. The platform that has kept us stuck with a brief 140-character limit since its start—that is, until now. The social media platform announced today that it is expanding its character limit from 140 to 280 characters for select users.
Those memorable Twitter threads (you know, like the one guy who was sharing all the updates on his haunted apartment) and those short, witty back-and-forths might be a thing of the past, and we're not quite sure how to feel.
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“Although we feel confident about our data and the positive impact this change will have, we want to try it out with a small group of people before we make a decision to launch to everyone,” the company wrote on their blog.
“We understand since many of you have been Tweeting for years, there may be an emotional attachment to 140 characters – we felt it, too. But we tried this, saw the power of what it will do, and fell in love with this new, still brief, constraint. We are excited to share this today, and we will keep you posted about what we see and what comes next.”
Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? ��
We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. ��https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL
— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017
This is a small change, but a big move for us. 140 was an arbitrary choice based on the 160 character SMS limit. Proud of how thoughtful the team has been in solving a real problem people have when trying to tweet. And at the same time maintaining our brevity, speed, and essence! https://t.co/TuHj51MsTu
— jack (@jack) September 26, 2017
Last year, Twitter tried to help ease our character count struggles by allowing people to post photos and GIFs without counting them against the overall character limit, which was a massive help.
But with the overall character limit increase, does that mean those witty tweets will be a thing of the past? We sure hope not. And although this character limit adjustment, if it becomes the norm, will change the way we use the social media network, it is nice knowing we have a few more characters to express our excitement and frustrations to all of our lovely followers.
The new limit gives users more space to expand their thoughts—but also might ruin the focused message we’ve grown to love.
It’s a two sided debate, and we want to know: What are your thoughts on a 280-character tweet limit? Let us know in the comments below!
