Twitter Expands Character Limit to 280

One of the most prominent changes in social media was made. Although a small change, the alteration had a seismic effect on the social media industry. That change was to alter Twitter, the platform for fast, 140-character messages, to 280 characters. That character count change is a small change in terms of cosmetics, but it has played a prominent role in changing how Twitter works.

Now, users in the past who felt like they have to be blunt with messaging can be more diverse. Those who felt like they needed a series of tweets to make a singular point can now do so quicker. There is nothing like the same cumbersome change that everyone expected the doubling of the average tweet to do.

Whilst the fear was that it would make Twitter, famed for its fast, snappy responses, more like standard social media, that has yet to play out.

At the moment, Twitter is thriving on the back of these changes. The official expansion was a very important change, and has made it easier for people to make long and lasting points. Without the same limitations, ideas can be better explored.

More importantly, the change has not altered the usage of the platform. It allows for clearer communication of ideas, without allowing people to use it as a faux blog. With the limits put in place now, there’s still the need to be concise in what you have to say.

While the old 140-character limit felt strangling and made getting a point across needlessly hard, this works better. Now, there is a far more positive duty on the message being portrayed without feeling like it’s become too open.

What do you make of the latest changes to the Twitter system? Do you believe that the changes are a positive or a negative change with regards to the future of the social media platform? Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: Twitter’s Blog