After a test of the 280-character limit, the social media giant has doubled the limit for everyone, and the sector has joined in with gusto
Twitter is now allowing tweets of up to #280characters, more than twice the previous length, and the sector has been quick to react to the new expansive digital world with characteristic enthusiasm.
We’re expanding the character limit! We want it to be easier and faster for everyone to express themselves.
More characters. More expression. More of what’s happening.https://t.co/wBpYdy1K40
— Twitter (@Twitter) November 7, 2017
Twitter’s decision to roll out the 280 character limit comes after a test in September that allowed some Twitter account holders to try the expanded messaging tool. The organisation said that in the first few days many users tweeted the full 280 limit because it was new and novel, but behaviour soon changed. In a blog on the site, Twitter product manager Aliza Rosen said: “We saw that when people needed to use more than 140 characters they tweeted more easily and more often. But, importantly, people tweeted below 140 most of the time and the brevity of Twitter remained.”
Rosen said that Twitter (and its users) were concerned that timelines would fill up with 280-character tweets and people testing the new limit would always use the whole space. But that didn’t happen: only 5 per cent of Tweets were longer than 140 characters and only 2 per cent were longer than 190 characters.
She said that users in the test got “very excited” about the extra space early on and many tweets went way beyond 140 characters.
“People did silly (creative) things like writing just a few characters per line to make their tweets extra large,” she said. “It was a temporary effect and didn’t last long. We expect to see some of this novelty effect spike again with this week’s launch and expect normal behaviour to resume soon after.”
Rosen added that the people who had more space to tweet got more engagement (likes, retweets and mentions) and more followers, but it was not clear whether or not this was because of the novelty or because of the quality of their content.
Whatever the reason, the sector has quickly joined in the bigger Twittersphere with a combination of humorous and serious messaging. Here’s a selection from the early adopters:
Is it acceptable to tweet ‘cake’ 56 times with our first #280characters tweet? Asking for a friend… ??#CoffeeMorning
— Macmillan Cancer (@macmillancancer) November 8, 2017
#280Characters you say? Can you name 280 bird species? ?????????? pic.twitter.com/cr3xH9Z7TD
— RSPB (@Natures_Voice) November 8, 2017
The only good thing about #280Characters is… more space for animal emojis! ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
— WWF UK (@wwf_uk) November 8, 2017
We’re all giddy about having #280Characters. Vaguely wondering if we should sack off work and list our favourite 280 children’s book characters! Who would be on your list? pic.twitter.com/qGi7bMKhyX
— BookTrust (@Booktrust) November 8, 2017
Every 45 minutes, someone dies from breast cancer in the UK. Our 450 scientists are working to find ways to prevent the disease, detect it, and treat it so effectively that no one dies from breast cancer ever again. With your support, our research will save lives. #280characters pic.twitter.com/5ZxazlSJSB
— Breast Cancer Now (@breastcancernow) November 8, 2017
#280characters?! Well that just means we have even more space to tell you about our wonderful animals. ????
We microchip them, vaccinate them and give them full check ups. And we care for them until they’re ready to meet you ?? https://t.co/UhEbdnE9TB ?? pic.twitter.com/rqskpw98ms
— BatterseaDogs&Cats (@BDCH) November 8, 2017
Limit increased from 140 to #280characters? That’s nothing! Thanks to our amazing supporters we are able to continually extend the limits of what we can do to help people around the world beat poverty for good. So, thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! pic.twitter.com/LlGy6PH1Hb
— Oxfam (@oxfamgb) November 8, 2017
We’ll use our first #280characters tweet to tell you what to do in an asthma attack.
??Sit up straight.
??Take one puff of your reliever inhaler every 30-60 secs, up to a max of 10 puffs.
??If you feel worse at any point, call 999 for an ambulance. https://t.co/gwZRVPdeWO pic.twitter.com/rcqIyNuYY2
— Asthma UK (@asthmauk) November 7, 2017
Our first #280characters tweet: the scale of mental health problems:
1 in 6 ppl experience a MH problem each week
65% of us have had MH problem in our lives
Depression: leading cause of illness globally
Suicide: leading cause of death 20-34 yr olds?? This is why we’re here ?? pic.twitter.com/ZxgtlvdESS
— Mental Health Fdn (@mentalhealth) November 8, 2017