Could Twitter be extending its 140-character limit?

11 months ago

Twitter users who struggle to stay inside the current character limit on tweets could see that all change, after the site’s co-founder hinted at a new feature.

Following reports the social networking site will allow users to tweet up to 10,000 characters at a time, chief executive Jack Dorsey posted a message saying the company will not be “shy” about giving its users more power.

He used a picture of text, containing 1,325 characters, to tell followers what may be in store.

The current 140-character restriction was introduced in Twitter’s early days, in a similar way to short text messages, and while Mr Dorsey praised it as a “beautiful constraint” he noted that users already find ways to cram more into a tweet by posting images with more words.

Mr Dorsey sent a tweet after a report on technology website Re/Code suggested Twitter is currently considering upping the limit to 10,000, although he did not refer directly to the report in his message.

In the tweet, he wrote: “We’re not going to be shy about building more utility and power into Twitter for people. As long as it’s consistent with what people want to do, we’re going to explore it.”

Such a move could be a good way to attract new users to the site, something it has struggled to do compared to other sites such as Facebook and Instagram, said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

He said: “Twitter is an afterthought in social media right now. They need to do something to drive more usage of the service. If people start using the service more frequently, other users will come join in, too.”

Re/Code reported that one option Twitter is considering is keeping the look of the site with only 140-characters visible in tweets, therefore maintaining the feel of the current timeline layout, but having an option to click for further content.

But it’s fair to say some current Twitter users are unsure about the possible developments…