Twitter expands character cap to 280

Twitter announced on Tuesday 7 November 2017 that the platform would double the limit for tweets from 140 to 280 characters. According to the company, the move has been put in motion to try and draw in more users and boost engagement of the social network.

Twitter believes that the new character limit will give users twice the space to voice their thoughts and this will thus usher in a new era for the online platform, whose hallmark 140-character cap had encouraged users to craft concise messages.

Twitter announced that they had begun testing the increase of limit across most languages in September 2017, then finally announced through their own platform that the change has been made permanent.

"We're expanding the character limit! We want it to be easier and faster for everyone to express themselves," tweeted the site on 8 November 2017.

Twitter confirmed that the changes will be rolling out in various languages except for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, in which space limitations have not been an issue.

The move signifies a monumental shift as it is the first time the tweet character cap has been raised since Twitter was founded 11 years ago, further highlighting the pressure the company feels to change in order to draw in more users.

After the announcement was made, millions took to Twitter to try out the new increased character cap. The resounding response from users was that they don't really care about the character increase.... they all just want an edit function. At least Twitter now knows what to work on for their next big change.

Here are some of the best reactions:

We just want an edit button. #280characters pic.twitter.com/YdH875p2Cw

— Kaybee (@Kaybee_Ntloana) November 8, 2017

We wanted an Edit button
We wanted Reactions
We wanted Stickers
We wanted less spam
We wanted Stories
We wanted better analytics
We wanted audio messages
We wanted 18+ blockers
We wanted to know what Twitter is actually supposed to be used for

Then they gave us #280characters

— Ulrich J van Vuuren (@UlrichJvV) November 8, 2017

So thissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss is what it feels like to have #280characters pic.twitter.com/s0G8EeLIRL

— Jacob Ibrag (@jaybrag) November 8, 2017

Dear #Twitter now that you have expanded the number of possibilities of me making a typo in my tweets, can I get an edit option, please?! #280characters pic.twitter.com/pvo7ZfqkVa

— Kari ☕ (@k_hdz) November 8, 2017

Delighted we have #280characters now! pic.twitter.com/FVPmlXhtZT

— Glitterball Mag (@GlitterballMag) November 8, 2017

When you ask for an "edit tweet" button but you get #280characters instead pic.twitter.com/Rtiei464rL

— Basso (@bassbrooo) November 8, 2017

I'm happy with the #280characters update but when are you going to put an "edit" button? 🤔 @Twitter pic.twitter.com/Mfj5W1lOgz

— Justine Villafuerte (@JustVillafuerte) November 8, 2017

So many Facebook status updates on my Twitter timeline. Issa lot! Go back! #280characters pic.twitter.com/2eo9NrRRf6

— Eusebius McKaiser (@Eusebius) November 8, 2017

Hey Twitter! We need
EDIT TWEET BUTTON
EDIT TWEET BUTTON
EDIT TWEET BUTTON
EDIT TWEET BUTTON
EDIT TWEET BUTTON
EDIT TWEET BUTTON
EDIT TWEET BUTTON
EDIT TWEET BUTTON#280characters

— Jomar Dela Rosa (@jomardlrs) November 8, 2017

"Are you enjoying the #280characters limit on twitter?"

First of all, I wanted a damn edit button.

— (@taeyaguk) November 8, 2017

By Dean Workman
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