Twitter shakes up the tweet

The social network has unveiled the biggest shake-up to the tweet form in its history. But is it really needed and will such a move destroy Twitter’s uniqueness?

After months of circulating rumours, Twitter finally announced it was to massively overhaul its iconic – and for some, infuriating – 140-character limit on tweets. Following some tweaking, people’s handles at the start of tweets, images, GIFs and videos will no longer count against the limit, enabling users to post longer messages with more interactive content without running afoul of the character restriction.

Though intended to simplify the site, it has repeatedly been criticised for being too complicated, putting off potential new users, and for losing the feature that made it unique from its social rivals. But for agencies and marketers, is this the news they have all been waiting for?

Yes, says Dima Khatib, social media manager at Mindshare UAE: “This bold move from Twitter is proof that it’s in the direction of making the platform more mainstream and easier for users and new joiners. With the drop in users Twitter has seen in the past few years, they needed to be more competitive. The shift will give users and brands more control in composing their tweets as they’ll have more space to communicate, boosting engagement and conversation during live events. Contending with the top social networks, Twitter’s change will add flexibility to the platform without taking away its original identity; a top platform for 1:1 conversation, customer service, and breaking news.”

However, Cortlan McManus, director of social at LiquidThread, is not convinced. “140 is to Twitter, as Classic is to Coke,” he says. “More than any other platform, it has ushered in the world of communicating ideas as quickly, and creativity, as possible. Less is more, and if you need…well…more -> use Twitter’s API; drop a GIF; link to an article; embed a track; make it smile with an emoji; get meta with a #. If Twitter adds to 140, they should simply create a sub-brand, something like: ‘Stuhlmann’s Double-collared Sunbird’ the world’s longest bird name and now the world’s unlimited character platform. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I doubt it would take off for flight anytime soon #justsaying.”

Layyan Qazzaz, digital Media Supervisor at UM MENA, likewise agrees, saying: “Over the past 10 years Twitter has been a source of dynamic information, updates and opinions across the globe and specifically in the Middle East. But should it extend its character limit? I believe not. Twitter’s uniqueness lies in its ability for users to consume and share bitesized content in real-time, a must for grabbing the attention of millennials today, which many brands compete against.

“Changing the way content is consumed would then disarm the platform of its distinguishing character, and eventually result in making it become rather indistinctive and lose its beauty.

“In the course of time, 310 million users have found creative ways around the 140 character challenge and pushed forward the tweetsized trend of sharing information, which will never restrain them negatively, but would rather inspire tweeps.”