Twitter Reportedly Exempting Links And Photos From 140-Character Tweet Limit
Part of Twitter's charm is that messages are short and to the point. The 140-character limit on tweets makes them easily and quickly digestible, negating the need for tl;dr summaries at the end. On the flip side, it can sometimes be tough getting an idea across in 140 characters. and it's even more challenging when links and photos take up part of the character count. That's going to change
At present links take up 23 characters, and that's after Twitter automatically shortens the URL. That leaves users posting a link with 117 characters to get their message across, though not for long. Citing "a person familiar with the matter," Bloomberg says Twitter has decided to no longer count photos and links against the 140-character limit.
Twitter hasn't announced the change yet, though it might happen by the end of the month. When it does, it's likely to well received by Twitter users, some of which have been creative with how they display longer messages that exceed the character limit. Some users post pictures of longer messages, while others use third-party apps and services that link to the full message when a tweet is longer than 140 characters.
This is all a balancing act for Twitter and its CEO Jack Dorsey. At one point earlier this year, Twitter toyed with the idea of lifting the limit on tweets to 10,000 characters. That might draw more media outlets into the fold, especially live tweeting is a thing, but it would also take away the very thing that separates Twitter from other social media sites.
As points of reference, Facebook limit posts to 63,206 characters, which is the equivalent of over 451 tweets. Google+ doesn't limit posts at all and is the least popular of the bunch.
At present links take up 23 characters, and that's after Twitter automatically shortens the URL. That leaves users posting a link with 117 characters to get their message across, though not for long. Citing "a person familiar with the matter," Bloomberg says Twitter has decided to no longer count photos and links against the 140-character limit.
Twitter hasn't announced the change yet, though it might happen by the end of the month. When it does, it's likely to well received by Twitter users, some of which have been creative with how they display longer messages that exceed the character limit. Some users post pictures of longer messages, while others use third-party apps and services that link to the full message when a tweet is longer than 140 characters.
This is all a balancing act for Twitter and its CEO Jack Dorsey. At one point earlier this year, Twitter toyed with the idea of lifting the limit on tweets to 10,000 characters. That might draw more media outlets into the fold, especially live tweeting is a thing, but it would also take away the very thing that separates Twitter from other social media sites.
As points of reference, Facebook limit posts to 63,206 characters, which is the equivalent of over 451 tweets. Google+ doesn't limit posts at all and is the least popular of the bunch.
