Twitter found itself on the receiving end of some overwhelming ‘public advice’ when on January 6, 2016, a website reported Twitter’s intention of increasing its character limit to 10000 from the current 140 characters. Responding to the immediate aftermath – shock and horror as popularly described – Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, did not confirm or deny the development, saying that “We are not going to be shy about building anything into Twitter. As long as it is consistent with what people want to do, we are going to explore it”.
The initial, and the more widespread, response saw Twitteratis enraged with the suggested change in the feature that is near trademark to the microblogging platform. Twitter saw enough reasons to not proceed with #Twitter10k and threats of leaving if the platform did so.
Mr Dorsey’s response clarified a few points though – those who do want to put longer comments on Twitter are doing so already availing different ways such as putting images of longer text messages, or using short links with reports or tweet cards among other options, some created by developers specifically to meet certain communication needs. The suggestion of 10000 characters is not too different in that sense because Twitter plans to show only the first 140 characters on the user’s timeline with a button to reveal the rest.
It would be no surprise if at any point in this quarter the tech giant in fact moves forward with the plan, putting the speculations to rest.
The point is that 80 percent of its users, access Twitter on mobile devices, wherein short messages work better with users gathering as much information as possible scrolling through the content stream. Clicking for more or longer messages may not work for the larger mass of these users but then again, only the sensible do not predict online behavior with any absolute certainty.
One reason why this is not earth shattering news for marketers and creative professionals is because marketers still have the option of creating the kind of Twitter campaigns they understand. Also, the first 140 characters will be paramount even in exceeded character limit because only if these are relevant and enticing enough will users bother to click on the information. But marketers tend to look at every change as an opportunity. This particular change is likely to excite creative professionals who believe in long copy ads. Twitter means real time marketing for many, and no matter what Twitter does, this is one aspect that the platform will not dare impact adversely. Until then, it is all good for both marketers and other professional users including journalists.
The 140 character constraint, designed to be in line with the traditional text message, will have to naturally evolve as everything around us changes. After Mr Dorsey resumed the CEO position once again last year, he left no doubt that he is willing to do newer things and push the envelope to grow the platform and give it more meaning for all stakeholders. At present, there are very less reasons for Twitter to not explore the 10k option. The only questions are when and how for it to make the most sense to its users.
