Get ready for more information overload! Twitter is beta testing a 280-character limit among a “single-digit percentage” of its 328 million users who will be randomly chosen, according to the company – so, millions of people.
“Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people tweeting in English,” Twitter said in a blog post. “When people don’t have to cram their thoughts into 140 characters and actually have some to spare, we see more people Tweeting — which is awesome!”
For an example of a 280 character tweet, see below:
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
Via WaPo:
The company declined to comment directly on how it’s choosing those people or why it changed its mind about its 140-character limit. But in a company blog post, product manager Aliza Rosen and senior software engineer Ikuhiro Ihara said the team started looking into the restrictions of the 140-character limit after noticing differences among languages.
Some languages — specifically Chinese, Japanese and Korean — allow for greater expression in fewer characters, Rosen and Ihara said.
“We see that a small percent of tweets sent in Japanese have 140 characters (only 0.4%). But in English, a much higher percentage of tweets have 140 characters (9%). Most Japanese tweets are 15 characters while most English tweets are 34,” the post said.
The 280-character test will roll out in all languages except for Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Workarounds that worked
For Twitter users who need to say more than 140 characters will allow, common workarounds include posting an image of a longer text, and the use of “twitterstorms” – lengthy screeds which notify readers that there’s more to come with fractions, such as (1/12) to signal 12 incoming posts.
A 280 character limit will obviously cut that in half.
Removing a point of contention
While Twitter acknowledges that some users may have an emotional attachment to short tweets, the company notes that having to cram your thoughts into a few sentences may in fact be deterring people from tweeting.
“in all markets, when people don’t have to cram their thoughts into 140 characters and actually have some to spare, we see more people tweeting — which is awesome!”
In other words, Twitter has found that removing this pain point — even if it means giving up something that has been core to its identity — can help it reach more people who will then use its product more. And, ultimately, that’s what Twitter has been seeking for years: a way to gain more users and to make its quirky ways easier to understand.
I know one guy who would be OK with a platform-wide increase:
#280characters pic.twitter.com/wmDT2J8VRI
— Rep. Steven Smith (@RepStevenSmith) September 26, 2017
Thoughts on the proposed change from around the Twitterverse:
Personally, I think #280characters is a bad idea. Twitter's about being smart and thrifty. Use your brain. Say what you need in 140 or gtfo.
— Mike P Williams ? (@Mike_P_Williams) September 26, 2017
What tweets with #280characters look like pic.twitter.com/F4IWScUQK2
— TrivWorks (@TrivWorks) September 26, 2017
F*ck 280 characters. We want an edit button. It's the only thing that will separate the humans from the bots #280Characters #TuesdayThoughts
— Humpty Trumpy (@TrumpsToDoList) September 26, 2017
How many characters do you prefer? #280characters
— Andrew Goldman (@AndrewGoldman_I) September 26, 2017
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Perf4ct. 280 char tweets. Now ppl get more room to say more dumb things.
World changing. Finally tweets will be long enough to change the minds of those with different ideologies.
This is a disaster. Soon it will be another Facebook.