One of the biggest changes in the history of Twitter.
Twitter has announced that it will be increasing the character limit of tweets from 140 to 280 on a trial basis for a significant number of the millions who use the platform on a regular basis.
Twitter has taken measures in the past to increase the number of characters available in a tweet (removing usernames preceded by the @ sign in replies to tweets, for example), but this is the most drastic change yet.
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
In a blog post explaining the move, it was explained that it is easier to express oneself in fewer characters in certain languages than it is in others (Japanese compared to English, for example), so the new limit will be available on a trial basis to languages “impacted by cramming” (all but Japanese, Chinese and Korean).
“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 blog post read.
“What matters most is that this works for our community – we will be collecting data and gathering feedback along the way. We’re hoping fewer Tweets run into the character limit, which should make it easier for everyone to Tweet.
“Twitter is about brevity. It’s what makes it such a great way to see what’s happening. Tweets get right to the point with the information or thoughts that matter. That is something we will never change.”
