#Twitter for mac 280 characters update#
This is the second major update to Twitter’s character limit inside 12 months. But when Iku tweets in Japanese, he doesn’t have the same problem.” Sometimes, I have to remove a word that conveys an important meaning or emotion, or I don’t send my tweet at all. “When I (Aliza) Tweet in English, I quickly run into the 140-character limit and have to edit my tweet down so it fits. READ MORE: 5 Twitter case studies to inspire your marketing strategy “Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people Tweeting in English, but it is not for those Tweeting in Japanese.
#Twitter for mac 280 characters software#
“Trying to cram your thoughts into a Tweet – we’ve all been there, and it’s a pain,” said Twitter product manager Aliza Rosen and senior software engineer Ikuhiro Ihara in a blog post. Crucially from Twitter’s perspective, more people are tweeting in markets where they don’t have to cram their thoughts into the current character restriction. Specifically Japanese, Korean and Chinese users, who are able to convey roughly double the amount of information in 140 characters then those tweeting in languages of European origin such as English, French and Portuguese.Īccording to Twitter’s research, 9 per cent of all tweets in English hit the 140-character limit, compared to just 0.4 per cent in Japanese. Justifying the decision, Twitter pointed out linguistic disparities in what users are able to say in a 140-character tweet. That said, it’ll be a gradual roll-out rather than an overnight transformation as only a select few users will be allowed to experiment with the new limit. Many will see it as the biggest development on the platform since 2006 when Jack Dorsey sent the first ever tweet. I’m sure Twitter considered this change carefully, but I’m convinced they’ve made a terrible mistake.Twitter has announced plans to double the character limit allowed in an individual tweet from the familiar 140 characters up to 280. The fewer tweets that fit in a single screen at a time, the less fun Twitter feels. That’s why email feels like a dreary chore, and Twitter feels like fun. Given unlimited characters, such as in email, people ramble aimlessly. Given 280 characters, people are going to use them, even to express thoughts that could have fit in 140. Fitting certain complex thoughts into a mere 140 characters sometimes felt like solving a small challenge, like one of The New York Times’s tiny little 5 × 5 crossword puzzles.īut perhaps the best commentary comes from William Shakespeare: I agree with Ihnatko - the 140-character limit made it a challenge. It’s no surprise that writers, in particular, object to this change. John Dingell, 91-year-old retired Congressman from Michigan ( who is truly excellent at Twitter):ĩ9% of you people don’t even deserve 140 characters.
I like the word-Tetris of making a complete thought fit in a Twitter trying to be more like Facebook is like basketball trying to be more like football - a bad idea that won’t work.
Twitter timelines now look more like Facebook - but Facebook is already there for Facebook-like timelines. But one of the pros is it made Twitter unique.
Yes, there were many trade-offs with the 140-character limit, both pros and cons. By doubling the character limit, Twitter has eliminated what made them unique. Inventive people could be within that concise framework. Rowling, on Twitter raising the per-tweet character limit to 280: Twitter’s 280-Character Own Goal Thursday, 9 November 2017