Twitter in Process of Testing for 280 Characters for Selective Group

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If reports are to be believed, soon the 140 characters Twitter tweet limit will be a past, as the micro-social media platform is testing for 280 characters. On 26th September, the company announced that it’s doubling the character count for tweets. The test group will also include tweets in certain languages, including English, Spanish and Portuguese. Twitter hopes that people will accept this change and help the users to communicate in a more elaborate way.

During its research, Twitter found that languages like Japanese, Korean and Chinese are able to convey the information in one character. According to its blog post, “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.”

When Twitter was released, the 140 characters were inspired by text messages. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said the founders wanted tweet to be able to fit in a text that gives out the message.

The Backlash:

Though Twitter founders are positive towards their decision, there seems to be some backlash as the users feel, Twitter must focus on content than the length of the tweet. The social media platform lately has been the ground of harassment and trolls, which is certainly raising questions over its use. Despite company’s effort, there have been still trolls by the users.

Presently, there are more than 320 million users worldwide and is increasing in the rapid phase.

Twitter says 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 (which is all except Japanese, Chinese, and Korean).

Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? 🤔

We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. 👇https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL

— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017