We may have to say goodbye to what drew us to Twitter. The incisive brevity we’ve come to love and expect from the app may soon disappear. The ease and pace of consuming 140 character tweets may be forever lost. The beauty of crystallising a complex thought or concept into a digestible nugget – gone. The elegance of the concise – may soon be taken from us.
Twitter’s product manager announced that they may be increasing the character limit of tweets from 140 characters to 280 characters. The social media platform has started testing the idea with a small group of users:
Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters?
We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL
— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017
Here are some of the best reactions to this troubling news.
139 characters pic.twitter.com/WkfdXL8oLh
— Caitlin Kelly (@caitlin__kelly) September 26, 2017
Nobody asked for this.
— Ciarán McGonagle (@cpmcgonagle) September 26, 2017
Chrissy Teigen is shook.
literally my only talent was being able to think of tweets exactly 140 characters long. i don’t know if I will be able to alter this to 280.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 26, 2017
Actually feeling dizzy and ill.
imagine a 280 character quote tweet to a 280 character original tweet that’s part of a 23 tweet thread w/ 280 characters each. fam i’m sick
— no (@miskeencore) September 26, 2017
Lol *cries
And in one stroke, Twitter doubles the complexity of our nation’s foreign policy.
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) September 27, 2017
There are real problems they need to address.
What @Twitter needs to do is get rid of bots, spam, and Donald Trump
— Jesus F. Baby (@FeministaJones) September 26, 2017
Users pledging to stick to 140 either way. Integrity lives.
Dog rates will always be 140 or less. If I can’t convince you that the dog I’m featuring is amazing in that confined space, I have failed https://t.co/QkABof12jI
— WeRateDogs™ (Oct 3) (@dog_rates) September 26, 2017
Clearly.
Someone once said it’s clear that Twitter’s product development team doesn’t actually use Twitter. I believe it.
— osiame molefe (@o_siame) September 27, 2017
I MEAN.
TWITTER USERS: It would be nice if you stopped people making death threats.
TWITTER: OK, but what if those death threats could be LONGER?
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) September 26, 2017
Even when it’s used to promote a good message, it’s an eyesore.
Now that I have more characters I want to take this opportunity to tell yall that Beyoncé is the greatest living entertainer and is on her way to becoming the greatest entertainer of ALL TIME. Her work ethic and drive is BEYOND anything of what we’ve seen in recent years. pic.twitter.com/1WYEfJMKTB
— kay™ (@beyoncehatesme) September 26, 2017
A PLEA: There was magic in 140 characters. Magic happened there. Magic. Don’t take it away. Don’t break something that works. @Twitter, we implore you. Please.
