Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey has finally laid speculation to rest by saying the social media site will retain its 140-character limit for tweets for the foreseeable future.
Dorsey's statement comes about two months after reports surfaced that Twitter was considering increasing the limit to allow for longer tweets. Following those reports there was uproar from thousands of Twitter's faithful fans, who believed the 140-character limit was an essential aspect of the site, and that unlimited tweets would mean it was no different to something like Facebook.
“It’s staying. It’s a good constraint for us,” Dorsey said on the “Today” show last Friday. “It allows for of-the-moment brevity.”
Twitter counts more than 320 million active users, but has come under pressure in recent months due to its disappointing earnings and stalling growth. Shareholders are keen for Twitter to do something to draw more users into its network, and the change in Tweet length was one such idea that was seriously considered.
However, though the character limit won't be removed any time soon, there are some big changes in store, Dorsey said.
“We’re changing a lot. We’re always going to make Twitter better,” Dorsey said, before refusing to elaborate on what those changes will be.
Dorsey has changed some of Twitter’s core features since he returned to run Twitter permanently in October. Twitter has added “Moments,” which allows users to easily find tweets about the day’s biggest news stories, and changed the shape of its “favorite” icon from a star to a heart.