Reports are suggesting that Twitter could be about to undergo a revolutionary change by removing the 140 character limit on tweets, a restriction that's been in place ever since the service was launched.
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Re/Code says the idea is to allow users to publish long-form content on Twitter. But the change hasn't been confirmed by Twitter, which was recently reported to also be considering a change to the way it measures the current 140 character limit, for example by not counting links or user handles.
The demand for a greater character limit is all too obvious, for there are many products out there that try to address this. One of them, OneShot, allows users to exceed the limit by tweeting photos of long text.
Because Twitter is so popular with real estate professionals, the removal of the 140 character limit would obviously have big implications, dramatically expanding Twitter's usefulness as a marketing platform.
Twitter desperately needs to do something, because its poor financial performance over the years has made shareholders increasingly concerned. Interim CEO Jack Dorsey, who is reportedly interested in taking on the job full time, has admitted in public that he's looking for ways to grow Twitter’s existing user base and appeal to a more mainstream audience.
As such, Dorsey is reported to be one of those pushing to remove the 140 character limit, according to one senior employee who refused to be named.
“People have been very precious at Twitter about what Twitter can be and how much it can be evolved,” the senior employee told Re/Code. “Having Jack come in and say it’s okay makes all the difference in the world.”
Previously, Twitter has made efforts to expand the platform's utility, removing the 140 character limit on private messages. It's also added features such as “retweet with comment” which give users more room to comment on shared tweets.