Twitter is testing a new feature that will double the character limit for tweets. Yes, that means you might soon have 280 characters to play with.
According to Twitter, it made the changes to address the frustration of some who are trying to fit their thoughts into a 140-character limit by counting letters.
About 9 percent of tweets in English reach the limit. A company spokesperson said the company is confident that most people will appreciate the change:
We understand that, because many of you have been accustomed to Tweeting for years, there can be an emotional attachment to 140 characters – I felt it too. But we tried this (with 280 characters), saw its power and what it will do, and fell in love with the new limitation that is still short.
The new limit will apply to languages that are affected much more frequently than the old 140-character. According to Twitter, the new feature affects all languages except Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
According to the company's data, users writing in these languages rarely approach the 140-character limit. For example, the percentage that reaches the 140-character limit is less than one percent for tweets written in Japanese.
Twitter is currently testing the new limit with a small group of its members, and will make it available to everyone if there is a positive reception.
