Is anyone ready for 4,000-character long tweets?

Luke Meredith

Once upon a time, Twitter was known as the place where you could say whatever you wanted to in 140 characters or fewer. This figure controversially doubled to 280 in 2018, affording users more space to put their thoughts into the world. Now, however, Twitter’s new ownership may be preparing to raise this number to unprecedented levels.

This past weekend, Twitter CEO Elon Musk revealed plans for a 4,000-character tweet limit by replying to a question from a fellow Twitter user.

Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022

This follows on (and advances) from November, when Musk revealed that plans for a 1,000-word limit were on Twitter’s ‘todo list’. Whatever number Twitter’s decision makers settle on, it is clear that they see removing Twitter’s unique brevity feature as a key element of their vision of the company.

Much like the decision to increase the character limit to 280, this update, if it goes ahead, is sure to provoke further controversy at a time when Twitter is no stranger to such outrage. However, instead of simply doubling the character limit, increasing it by more than 14 times the current limit would likely see a marked change in the way that Twitter is experienced by users all over the world.

In terms of benefits, a larger character limit may be viewed quite favourably by businesses that use Twitter to reach its audience. We know as well as anyone how difficult it can be to squeeze your company messaging into a single tweet, even at 280 characters, so a 4,000-character limit would definitely have its affordances for some. However, for what has long been known as a microblogging platform, there are fears that removing the brevity of the Twitter experience risks sacrificing the feature that made the platform unique in the first place.

If you or your business needs any support in managing its social media presence, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Engage Web today.

About
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Luke Meredith

Content Editor at Engage Web

At home in both the digital sector and the world of communications, Luke thrives on deadlines and has held roles in healthcare, retail and digital marketing, gaining a sound knowledge of a wide range of sectors. He’s a massive swot as well, holding a first-class degree in BA Communication and Media, and now uses his writing skills and keen editorial eye in his role as Content Editor here. Luke helps to oversee our clients’ content requirements, while also looking after a pool of freelance writers across three continents.

Is anyone ready for 4,000-character long tweets?