Twitter is looking for new ways to appeal to a broader Internet audience. As social media rivalry gets stiffer, one of the solutions management is considering is lifting the 140-character limit on tweets. The pros and cons of this move are apparent: the character limit has come to define Twitter's service but, at the same time, boxes in users to just 140 characters.
According to the Forbes report on this, the character limit is based on the character limit of an SMS. 140 characters are allotted for the main content while 20 characters are allotted for the user's unique handle. But since barely anyone uses SMS to send tweets nowadays, Twitter management is seriously mulling over this problem and announced it is coming out with a "new product" without character constraints.
The wording of the announcement is interesting. For one, it hints at the retention of the current character limit but also extends it as well. Also, the move comes after the character limit on private direct messages was lifted last month after years of pressure, according to US News and World Report.
The changes in Twitter's service come with the new management. In June, ex-CEO Dick Costolo resigned because of investor scrutiny and co-founder Jack Dorsey became interim CEO. Dorsey wants Twitter to "be as easy as looking out your window to see what's happening," and, at the same time, "Twitter also has to be the most powerful microphone in the world," Wall Street Journal quoted Dorsey.
Twitter's user experience is unique but recent progress of its rivals, most notably Instagram whose active monthly users have far exceeded Twitter already, has pushed for accelerated change within the company. Now the question is, what is this "new product" that Twitter is going to announce? And more importantly, will it be effective enough to gain lost ground from the competition?
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