Earlier this month Twitter announced it will double its character limit from 140 to 280, a move which has now been rolled out, but will the change rescue the company from recent slow growth and low engagement rates?
The move follows Twitter’s successful trial of the feature on a small group of users in September, in response to criticism that it was not easy to convey your thoughts in a 140-character limit. The company found during the trial that people continued to tweet below the 140-character limit and were not abusing the 280-character feature after its novelty wore off (see below).
According to the firm, research on the longer character limit showed 5% of tweets sent in English were longer than 140-characters and only 2% more than the 190 limit, in respect to 9% of English tweets hitting the character limit prior to its launch.
The aim of Twitter’s change is to make the platform more accessible and appealing for current users, whilst enticing newcomers to the site from the likes of Facebook and Snapchat. However, the launch of the feature created controversial views, as many users mocked the changes, and some pointed out the firm should prioritise critical problems, including tackling ongoing user harassment and an edit feature.
Vizulate split on new character limit
Our team have a mixed views about the increased number of characters on Twitter…
Cara
“The changes have been long overdue as the company has been fighting a losing battle against the rest of the social media giants. The likes of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram have been leading the way with regular feature updates which have left Twitter lagging behind.
“Now users have the choice to have longer tweets, to get more followers and get more engagement per post. From a marketing perspective, you can see more content per tweet from your favourite brands making the short form content easier to consume. It is a win-win for everyone!
“The traditional 140 character limit has been on borrowed time for many years. Gone now are the days where you have to rewrite your tweet multiple times before the option appears to hit send.”
Scott
“I’ve got to be honest that I’m not a fan of Twitter’s new extended character limit. The whole appeal of Twitter was that you had to be concise in your message to the world, and if you wanted to elaborate then there was always the option to add a link to a more detailed post or article.
“Even from a marketing perspective I don’t think it’s a good thing. Brands had to get creative with their tweets to get their marketing messages into 140 characters. How long before Twitter expands the character limit further, allowing for the full terms and conditions to be inserted into every tweet?
“It would have been better if they had expanded it to 180 characters or simply stopped spaces being counted as characters. There’s already not enough time in the day to consume the content from our favourite brands.
“Look at the upset Donald Trump can cause with just 140 characters. Imagine what he can do with double that.”
Head over to our Twitter page here to get involved in our poll, let us know whether you are #teamcara or #teamscott or if you have a different view from us. Be sure to tag us in your tweets by adding @VizulateDigital.