Twitter wants to let you have your say without having to mince words.
That is why the microblogging site has announced it is upping its character limit to 280 — a decided increase from the original limit of 140 characters.
If this is a change you have been waiting for, don’t get too excited yet. Twitter is currently testing the long tweets feature with a small number of accounts.
“In languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese you can convey about double the amount of information in one character as you can in many other languages, like English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French,” Twitter product manager Aliza Rosen explained in a blog post.
“We want every person around the world to easily express themselves on Twitter, so we’re doing something new: we’re going to try out a longer limit, 280 characters, in languages impacted by cramming (which is all except Japanese, Chinese, and Korean).”
While the change makes a lot of sense to some, there are still a number of users who are not happy about the character increase. And, as usual, people took to Twitter to voice their opinions and crack jokes.
The perfect gif for this nonsense. #280characters pic.twitter.com/Du0YP0ys2X
— Austin (@AustinCTweets) September 27, 2017
Dear Twitter, be careful what you wish for. #140Characters #280Characters pic.twitter.com/Tab6BEPn9I — James Melville (@JamesMelville) September 27, 2017
Pic1: 140 characters
Pic2: #280characters pic.twitter.com/LsdgknVV7o— ?Tuti Fruti? (@oyhoay) September 27, 2017
If we wanted to read essays we would log into Facebook so it’s a no from me. #280characterspic.twitter.com/EvrOJXpTJU — Sheldon Cameron (@Sheldon_Cameron) September 27, 2017
I’m so excited to be part of @Twitter’s #280characters rollout. Let me just say it’s an honor and a privilege. I’d like to thank my wonderf
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) September 27, 2017
Firmly against Twitter going to #280characters. If the platform produces art like this, why change it? pic.twitter.com/zz0u2eQb14
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) September 27, 2017
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is taking the criticism in stride, however.
“We expected (and love) all the snark and critique for #280characters. Comes with the job,” Dorsey said in a tweet. “What matters now is we clearly show why this change is important, and prove to you all it’s better. Give us some time to learn and confirm (or challenge!) our ideas.”
Rosen summed up Twitter’s move toward longer tweets best: “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.”
There is no word yet on when the 280 character limit will roll out for all users.
good update.