Twitter to trial 280-character limit for users

TWITTER is set for a significant revamp with the social networking giant trialling a new 280-character limit on tweets.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Sep 2017, 09:27 BST
Updated 27th Sep 2017, 11:45 BST
Twitter is trialling a boost in the number of characters you can use in a tweetTwitter is trialling a boost in the number of characters you can use in a tweet
Twitter is trialling a boost in the number of characters you can use in a tweet

The idea of the increase in characters from 140 is to help users get around the 'constraints' posed by certain languages.

According to the company, English and Spanish users often have to 'cram' in their tweets under the current character limit.

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The trial will be rolled out to a small percentage of Twitter's 328m monthly active users and will be available in all languages except Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

Aliza Rosen, Twitter's product manager said: 'We want every person around the world to easily express themselves on Twitter, so we're doing something new: we're going to try out a longer limit, 280 characters, in languages impacted by cramming.'

She insisted that Twitter will not be largely impacted by the change, stating: 'Tweets get right to the point with the information or thoughts that matter. That is something we will never change.

The trial has prompted criticism on the social platform itself with user Ganeth Shelke writing: 'No need of #280characters please. If you want to write eassy, go to Facebook or blogger. Short is classy and beauty of Twitter.'

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