Twitter Expands to 280 Characters, and This is How Users Are Celebrating

On Tuesday, Twitter officially expanded its character count to a 280 limit for all users in supported languages. Twitter first expanded its 140 character limit back in September this year, but the new 280 character count was only available to a select group of people that Twitter used to test this feature.

Twitter realized that the 140 limit character was affecting most users who were tweeting in certain languages; English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French, as compared with others, like Japanese, Korean and Chinese. The second group was able to transmit more information in one character, while the first group had to edit each tweet in order to convey an idea in just 140 characters.

Could Twitter have done something better?

While most Twitter users seemed joyful to receive the news that they can now send longer tweets, others were quick to point out that there are more serious issues that Twitter could have addressed first. Things like fake accounts, bullying, harassment, and an edit function are among some of the things that users are demanding to improve.

Some writers argue that Twitter is losing its brevity, one of the things it is known for. Now, with 280 characters, Twitter might become less readable as prominent blocks of text start to appear in people’s feeds.

Also, for a good writer, condensing a thought into just 140 characters is a good exercise.

#280characters

After Twitter announced to the public its decision to increase the character limit to 280, users started Tweeting using the hashtag #280characters.

Here are some of the best reactions to #280characters:

All we wanted was an edit button.
All we wanted was an edit button.
All we wanted was an edit button.
All we wanted was an edit button.
All we wanted was an edit button.
All we wanted was an edit button
All we wanted was an edit button. #280characters

— Brian Ross Adams (@BrianRossAd) November 7, 2017

 

Finally Can Say This…
Now
this
is
the
story
all
about
how
My
life
got
flipped,
turned
upside
down
And
I'd
like
to
take
a
minute
just
sit
right
there
I'll
tell
you
how
I
became
the
prince
of
a
town
called
Bel Air #280characters pic.twitter.com/KuxIBg2MKx

— Ziggy (@mrjafri) November 8, 2017

 

Too many characters. Everywhere. It’s like a damn #Avengers movie. #280characters

— Bryan Burke (@IAmBPBurke) November 8, 2017

 

JFK wanted to keep his inaugural address short, and as he said to advisor Ted Sorensen, “I don’t want people to think I’m a windbag.”

We’ll take our cue from JFK, and keep things concise around here! #280characters pic.twitter.com/S8cHlZB4n6

— JFK Library (@JFKLibrary) November 8, 2017

 

#280characters

as in

T
W
O

H
U
N
D
R
E
D

A
N
D

E
I
G
H
T
Y

C
H
A
R
A
C
T
E
R
S

Y
O
U

C
A
N

S
C
R
O
L
L

A
N
D

S
C
R
O
L
L

A
N
D

S
C
R
O
L
L

A
N
D

S
C
R
O
L
L

A
N
D

S
C
R
O
L
L

T
O

T
R
O
L
L
.
.
.

L
.
O
.
L
.
!
!
!

— #TESLIM (@VectorThaViper) November 8, 2017

 

??RUS
??BRA
??IRN
??JPN
??MEX
??BEL
??KOR
??KSA
??GER
?ENG
??ESP
??NGA
??CRC
??POL
??EGY
??ISL
??SRB
??FRA
??POR
??ARG
??COL
??URU
??PAN

2⃣3⃣ clasificados
9⃣ pasajes en juego#280characters

— Copa Mundial FIFA (@fifaworldcup_es) November 8, 2017

 

MCDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO #280characters

— McDo Philippines (@McDo_PH) November 8, 2017

 

The Top 10 Language Pairs in #translation are:

1- English-Spanish
2- English-Chinese
3- English-French
4- English-German
5- English-Russian
6- English-Portuguese
7- English-Japanese
8- English-Arabic
9- English-Italian
10- Spanish-Portuguese #280characters
#t9n #xl8 #Facts

— Day Translations (@DayTranslations) November 8, 2017