Twitter may allow tweets to reach 10,000 characters, but you'll only see the first 140

[midian182]

In September last year, it was reported that Twitter was considering removing its famed 140-character limit on Tweets. It now looks as if this will happen within the next few months, as Re/Code reports that the company is likely to launch a new feature in Q1 that will allow users to post tweets of up to 10,000 characters.

If the microblogging site does bring in a 10K-character restriction on posts, then it will match the direct message limit it introduced in August 2015. At the time, the company said the removal of the 140-character limit on DMs didn’t indicate that it was considering doing the same for tweets, but it appears that the San Francisco firm has now decided otherwise.

Should the change happen, Twitter users won’t have worry about their feeds getting clogged up with lengthy posts; tweets will still appear on timelines in the traditional 140-character format, only with some kind of indication that there’s more content to see. Clicking on a long-form tweet will expand it and reveal the entire, 10,000-character maximum post.

The ability to create long-form, expandable tweets has been available for a while now, thanks to third-party programs such as Twitlonger. But the possibility of introducing the feature as part of Twitter itself isn’t going down well with users. The sacrosanct 140-character tweet limit is one of the main reasons why people use Twitter; they want short and snappy posts, not a Facebook-like experience.

Twitter has introduced a slew of new features over the past 12 months in an attempt to increase its stagnating number of new sign-ups and to compete with social network rivals Facebook. CEO Jack Dorsey posted his own tweet yesterday that seemed to defend the upcoming move.

"We've spent a lot of time observing what people are doing on Twitter, and we see them taking screenshots of text and tweeting it," he wrote. "Instead, what if that text...was actually text? Text that could be searched. Text that could be highlighted. That's more utility and power."

pic.twitter.com/bc5RwqPcAX

— Jack (@jack) January 5, 2016

The news of the potential change caused shares in the company - which fell about 32% in 2015 - to drop 3 percent. Another sign that altering the foundation that Twitter is built on may not be the best idea.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/63373-twitter-may-allow-tweets-reach-10000-characters-but.html

 

[davislane1]

Introducing an expansion like that will put another nail in Twitter's coffin. You cannot compete in the social media arena with a knockoff version of Facebook.

 

[oldikes]

Introducing an expansion like that will put another nail in Twitter's coffin. You cannot compete in the social media arena with a knockoff version of Facebook.

I'd agree. I think maybe a slightely longer character limit would be nice but 10,000 just makes it a Facebook feed.

 

[p51d007]

Twitter & most other forms of NON VETTED social media, are some of the WORST things to come out.
It is an example of a pure democracy, which (in the USA) we did not do when this country was founded.
Fine example...Furgeson, Missouri. Everyone was twittering, retwittering, facebooking, liking that the "gentile giant" Michael Brown was shot running AWAY from police with his hands up, when, in fact, he had punched the officer, tried to take his firearm, was running TOWARD the officer in a fit of rage when he was shot.
But, by the time all the investigations were completed, the damage was done. Riots burned a lot of businesses down. He was IN FACT running toward the officer, was a guns & drugs thug, had just pushed a store owner down while shoplifting. But, the narrative was done. It was the police officers fault, not the criminal. Facebook/twitter you can post ANYTHING, and before it can be vetted, it takes on a life of its own. How many lives have been destroyed by a stupid FB post or tweet? How much property damage has been done?
Yes, I'm all for the 1st amendment, but, as with yelling FIRE in a crowded movie theater, something must be done to reign in this crap. I won't even get into the whole twitter selfie crap, I don't get kids that do the duck lips/trout pout thing.

 

[RobertM]

I think this is really a bad idea as this is why most come to Twitter. Twitter has drawn the attraction of thousands of teens and young adults alike, while I don't have exact numbers I would say Twitter is used primarily by the newer generations. The appeal has really has been the difference between other social medias. Snapchat it was the ability to have a picture disappear, Instagram a (almost) picture only social media platform, and Twitter's 140 character limit. It's the differences that set them apart for the newer generations. I believe that doing this would hurt Twitter drastically.

 

[RobertM]

Twitter & most other forms of NON VETTED social media, are some of the WORST things to come out.
It is an example of a pure democracy, which (in the USA) we did not do when this country was founded.
Fine example...Furgeson, Missouri. Everyone was twittering, retwittering, facebooking, liking that the "gentile giant" Michael Brown was shot running AWAY from police with his hands up, when, in fact, he had punched the officer, tried to take his firearm, was running TOWARD the officer in a fit of rage when he was shot.
But, by the time all the investigations were completed, the damage was done. Riots burned a lot of businesses down. He was IN FACT running toward the officer, was a guns & drugs thug, had just pushed a store owner down while shoplifting. But, the narrative was done. It was the police officers fault, not the criminal. Facebook/twitter you can post ANYTHING, and before it can be vetted, it takes on a life of its own. How many lives have been destroyed by a stupid FB post or tweet? How much property damage has been done?
Yes, I'm all for the 1st amendment, but, as with yelling FIRE in a crowded movie theater, something must be done to reign in this crap. I won't even get into the whole twitter selfie crap, I don't get kids that do the duck lips/trout pout thing.

Are you okay? I don't think you have any sort of touch on reality. I don't think you get the whole FREEDOM thing, but I'll let you read the constitution again.

 

[p51d007]

Are you okay? I don't think you have any sort of touch on reality. I don't think you get the whole FREEDOM thing, but I'll let you read the constitution again.

Well, quite honestly, I would say I know more about the U.S. Constitution that most college graduates.
Just as yelling FIRE in a theater, THAT is the problem I have with "instant" messaging like twitter.
On a side note, I don't so much blame the application, as I do the FOLLOWERS for not using COMMON SENSE
in thinking things through clearly, but for some reason, well, I read it on twitter, it must be true...how do you know that?
Well, they can't put anything on the internet that isn't true. Where did you hear that? On the internet.
Just look how many times, you either read, were forwarded, tweeted, heard about, saw on tv that the FB
guy was "giving away millions" if you liked/friended/tweeted or whatever?
People are dupes because they lack common sense.
I think a good think might be, passing a law removing ALL WARNING labels from fireworks, guns, motorcycles,
bicycles, skateboard, lawn darts and what not, and let nature take its course. It would surely thin out the heard
and strengthen the gene pool. -