Reports say Twitter may be reconsidering 140-character limit

The 140-character rule that Twitter initiated almost a decade ago somehow revolutionized the way we interact online, and gave a shorter alternative for the TL;DR generation who wanted to get their information by the piecemeal. But reports are saying that the higher ups are looking into either expanding the limit or coming up with a new product/platform that will allow users to go beyond that. Interim CEO Jack Dorsey is believed to be keen on the idea and has even talked about it indirectly.

While there are some ways to go around the 140-character rule through 3rd party apps, it’s still different if it’s from the platform or app itself. While their trademark was revolutionary when it first came out, some have criticized the company’s unwillingness to expand beyond this and now that growing their user base is a huge priority, sources are saying that discussion internally on what to do have been heating up. This has included removing some items from the 140 count, like punctuation, links, usernames, etc.

The past few months have seen changes on the platform that lead people to believe that going beyond 140 characters is definitely in the cards. You have Twitter Cards, retweet with comments, and even removing character limits in Direct Messages. But the standard remains the same in the normal messages, and most in the industry believe it’s about time to shake up things once again.

Co-founder Dorsey took over from embattled Dick Costelo after investors were not that happy with the company’s revenue projections and quarterly reports. Since Dorsey temporarily took over, and while they’re still looking for a CEO, he has expressed the opinion that they need to reach a more “mainstream audience”. Will having a more long-form alternative platform be one of the answers to their woes?

VIA: ReCode