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Twitter's New Character Limit | What Users Think

Twitter's New Character Limit | What Users Think

Read Time: 2.5 minutes 

So, after trialling it for several weeks, Twitter has doubled its character limit, arguably abandoning the very thing that made it so unique in the first place. “Trying to cram your thoughts into a Tweet – we’ve all been there, and it’s a pain,” writes Product Manager Aliza Rosen, who wrote the blog that broke the news of Twitter's new character limit trial. The move was part of the social network’s continued aim to help people “easily express themselves”. After a study found that 9% of UK tweets utilised the full 140-character limit, the trial gave a small portion of users the new 280-character format, “collecting data and gathering feedback along the way”. The above figure is a staggering statistic in comparison to the likes of Japan (0.4%), China and Korea, where one character is generally able to convey a lot more meaning. So, that's the reason we got from the developers regarding Twitter's new character limit, but what aren’t they telling us? What has led them to sacrifice one of its most unique features? Twitter’s lack of growth has been well publicised over the last couple of years, and developers have been pushing to evolve and enhance the user experience in an attempt to get it back on track. Their work has been effective, with Twitter’s daily active users increasing by 11 percent in April this year. However, with competition from the likes of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram, its revenues reportedly fell by 8% the same month. Twitter has 328million monthly users. Now compare that with Facebook’s 2 billion and you can see why it is struggling to compete. Its latest development has been in the pipeline for some time now, with founder and CEO Jack Dorsey coming very close to expanding the limit to 10,000 in early 2016. A 280-limit, albeit slightly less drastic, is still seen to be a viable solution to the frustration caused by the original figure. But how have the people of Twitter reacted? First, there was shock… While some praised and looked forward to the update… Most appeared to ridicule it… While others opted to outright criticize and disagree with Twitter's new character limit... Elsewhere, people decided to use it as an opportunity to take a dig at Donald Trump, who is a known frequent user of Twitter…

What else is Twitter working on?

Despite many replying to Twitter's new character limit trial begging for an 'Edit Tweet' option, the social networking site instead announced that they are working on a 'Save for later' feature. Similar to Facebook's 'Save Post' button, this will allow users to bookmark tweets to refer back to later on. Developers have also been working hard to perfect their integrated video feature.

How to ensure your online presence makes the most of the updates

Social media is forever updating and evolving, and it can be difficult to not only notice changes such as Twitter's new character limit but to maximise the effect they’re having on your business. Struggle to find the time to make full use of social media and all of its benefits? Not sure how to make the most of Twitter's new character limit? Check out how we can boost your business with the power of social media marketing by clicking here and getting in touch! Oliver Wilkinson Content Marketing Executive Knapton Wright Ltd.
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