Twitter is now very close to making a big change in the working of tweets, according to The Verge. The platform, which imposes a character limit of 140 on tweets, will cut down on exactly which types of content count towards the limit beginning September 19. The count will not be reduced if there are media attachments to the tweet such as images, GIFs, polls, videos, etc.
Twitter – More characters, longer tweets
With such a move, users will get more flexibility in composing their messages. Another important adjustment to the character limit is that usernames at the beginning of replies will not be counted any longer, giving additional room for discussion to users, says The Verge.
Two sources familiar with Twitter’s business have given this date to The Verge, but the possibility of change in the plans for the roll-out still exists. The Verge also tried to contact a Twitter spokesperson regarding the change, but he did not comment.
Hopefully the upcoming change will make Twitter usage a lot easier for new users. The new limit allows for all kinds of creativity as users previously tried to say the most possible with 140 characters. This update will retain Twitter’s core and possibly remove some speed bumps. It will be interesting to see what users will do with the new flexibility.
Twitter – A long-awaited change
For a long time, users have been dissatisfied with the miserly character count of tweets. Earlier this year, there were rumors that the company was contemplating allowing tweets up to 10,000 in characters. But in March, Dorsey told NBC’s Today that the company would retain the 140-character limit, putting to rest the speculations.
In May, the social media company announced its plans of discontinuing the practice of counting extras like photos, videos and user polls. But at that time, it did not specify when exactly it would make the shift.
CEO Jack Dorsey told The Verge then, “This is the most notable change we’ve made in recent times around conversation in particular, and around giving people the full expressiveness of the 140 characters. I’m excited to see even more dialog because of this.”
Whether or not all of these changes will occur simultaneously is not clear as of now, and certain content types may gradually stop counting against the character limit in stages, says The Verge.
On Monday, Twitter shares closed up 0.22% at $18.15. Year to date, the stock is down more than 18%, while in the last year, it is down almost 34%.
