Twitter Expands 280 Character Tweet To More Users And Languages
Twitter will now allow users to express themselves even more by rolling out 280-character tweets around the world. The expanded tweets will be standard to all languages where the micro-blogging service is available with the exception of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
In a recent blog post, the company said the expanded character limit would allow for easier expression while retaining "the brevity for which the service is known." The 140-character limit will still apply to the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean however, due to the fact that Asian languages fit more thoughts into fewer characters with the average Japanese tweet only containing 15 characters.
Expanding the limit might seem like an unnecessary move given that with the previous limit only nine percent of tweets reached the 140 characters while after implementing 280 character tweets, only one percent was able to hit the limit. Nevertheless, Twitter said that "More space makes it easier for people to fit thoughts in a tweet, so they could say what they want to say, and send Tweets faster than before."
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Doubling the character limit might also upset the fast-moving, real-time nature of the site as it encourages users to create more expansive paragraphs rather than quick updates. This is particularly true for the site's resident experts who often launch a barrage of tweets to explain the day's events.
Many also expressed their thoughts with regards to the President who is infamous for his tweets that take potshots from political opponents and critics alike. Being a builder, it's probably safe to say the Donald Trump will put that extra space for virtual real estate to good use.
Still, most users will probably stay with their standard Twitter usage limiting themselves to a few characters. Only 5 percent of tweets sent during the test period exceeded 140 characters, the company said, and just 2 percent exceeded 190 characters.
Hopefully, the new character limit allows for a more formal discussion for people who often use the service to debate ideas. This is particularly true for political commentators on both the left and the right who are almost always launching Twitter tirades against each other.
