The 140-character limit has been frustrating for wordy users from its beginning in 2006, and through the years, there have been occasional hints of the possibility for the option to extend tweets. Until now, however, if you needed to tweet more than 140 characters, you had to resort to sending a private direct message, which currently provides space for up to 10,000 characters.
There may be good news on the horizon if you’re a Twitter user who often has more to tweet than the standard 140-characters currently allows. According to Re/code, the platform plans to launch a feature at the end of the first quarter that would enable you to tweet up to 10,000 characters. As with many changes the social network has gone through over the years, the new feature, simply referred to as “Beyond 140” could go through various changes by the time we actually get to use it.
The version of the new feature that is currently being tested displays 140 characters just as it does now, except with a note or call to action indicating that there is more to read, somewhat similar to other services such as TwitLonger and TweetExtend. The difference, however, is that the platform intends to retain the same look and feel of your timeline.
This newest Twitter feature follows a string of attempts at jump-starting user growth. Recently, the platform added its Twitter Moments feature for highlighting special events. The platform also began efforts to run ads and make money on logged-out users and those visiting the site without accounts.
Some users, however, point out issues in extending the tweet count, such as an increase in potential spamming, which Twitter is currently battling. Also, many fear that the ability to tweet as many as 10,000 characters changes the entire point that Twitter began with, and simply turns the social media network into another Facebook.
