The latest social media news that has got everyone talking is that Twitter are to remove the 140 character limit on Tweets that are posted out on Twitter and that users could make Tweets with up to 10,000 characters which is around about 2,000 words. So far this has received many negative reviews as many users have become used to summarising what they want to say within the 140 character limit. However to back up the reason for this change, the CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has said that Twitter have looked into the Tweets people are making and many of them contain screenshots of a longer amount of text so that users are able to post more words within a Tweet. He has also said about the change in technology which we have today and how the change should bring a positive outcome in the future.
The 140 Twitter Character Limit
The 140 character limit on Twitter was put in place because at the time when Twitter was introduced in 2006, there were no smartphones or Apps and Twitter could be worked through SMS text messaging. Text messages were and still are limited to 160 characters, so because of this Twitter decided to have the same character limit for Tweets, where 20 characters were used for the users name and the 140 characters were for the main message.
After the release of countless smartphones and Apps which we are now all used to, Twitter kept the 140 character limit as it was something users had become used to and it also was a way for users to summarise what they wanted to say in this short Tweet or message. It is also something that Twitter has become known for, unlike other social media sites which allow you to write as much as you like, Twitter has a limit keeping posts short for users to quickly scroll through and read.
A Time for Change to Twitter
Now 2016 is here Twitter has now decided to change with the times and update this social media site. Making these changes Twitter hopes to make the site easier for users to Tweet about what they want and to also search for the latest news and updates of those they are following.
Likes Replaced Favourites
Around the time that Facebook spoke about changing their Likes to various reactions in the form of emotions, Twitter decided to make a change to the Favourites. Favourites which used to be star symbols on each Tweet has now been replaced with Likes and heart symbols. Users can then view other peoples Likes on their main accounts/ profiles next to their followers.
Moments
In December 2015, Twitter introduced Moments which captured the main Tweets and stories of that day. For those that don’t have the time to check their main news feed throughout the day, Moments is a great way to quickly catch up with the latest news and Tweets.
10,000 Character Limit
Within the next few months we will be allowed to use up to 10,000 characters in our Tweets on Twitter. As this has already gained a negative response it wont be until then that we will see how Twitter users take to the 10,000 characters available to use. For most they will be used to the limit so that they summarise the things they want to say, however for those that do want to write more will be able to do so with ease.
