Twitter users have been sharing their first thoughts on the social platform’s decision to extend its character limit from 140 to 280.
In an update on Tuesday, the social media site said a trial of the feature it began with limited users in September was now being expanded worldwide.
Response was swift, and while Twitter’s arguably most famous users – President Donald Trump – was quick to take advantage of the extra characters, others weren’t so sure about the move.
Getting ready to make a major speech to the National Assembly here in South Korea, then will be headed to China where I very much look forward to meeting with President Xi who is just off his great political victory.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 8, 2017
OMG 280 CHARACTERS!! This is truly a revolution!! I mean the possibilities are endless.. I don't even know how or where to begin, there's so many amazing things I want to say, so many incredible feelings I can now articulate.. I guess right off the bat I'll start by saying OH FUC
— Conor Maynard (@ConorMaynard) November 8, 2017
I will NEVER use 280 characters nor will I favorite or retweet a tweet with them. THIS IS MY FIGHT SONG
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) November 8, 2017
The whole point of Twitter was its brevity #280characters
— Lianne Warnell 🏑 (@lwarne11) November 8, 2017
I've always thought that 140 characters were too little to effectively convey ones thoughts.
And now that we have 280, am wondering whether a thought more than 140 characters is a thought worth tweeting. Or worth reading.
Still figuring out how to fill the space. Just made it.
— Stephen Lobo (@stephenlobo) November 7, 2017
A mixed reaction at best then. But that didn’t stop some strong humour and a dash of creativity from appearing in some timelines.
The average novel is 90,000 words.
The average 280 character tweet is 30 words.
Therefore, every 3,000 tweets you've written a novel.#280characters
— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) November 8, 2017
Your 280 character jokes are not funny —-> Mostly True. pic.twitter.com/4DcEgaZUVC
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) November 7, 2017
'Extravagant':baroque, devilish, exorbitant, excessive, extreme, fancy, immoderate, inordinate, insane, intolerable, lavish, overdue, overextravagant, overmuch, overweening, plethoric, profligate, steep, stiff, spendthrift, thriftless, towering, unconscionable, undue, unmerciful
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 7, 2017
Dear @Twitter. Thank you for giving us all #280characters. Our club name can finally be expressed in its full glory.
Yours sincerely,Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 Mönchengladbach e.V. pic.twitter.com/FTBBJjPfxT
— Gladbach (@borussia_en) November 8, 2017
Finally! Enough characters to count all of Tom’s wins.1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162Hey @Twitter, can we get some more characters?
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 8, 2017
280 characters means we can now go…
AGUEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/pEZyuK5tg2
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 8, 2017
But a long-standing request also surfaced, with many frustrated that Twitter had overlooked the opportunity to introduce an edit button.
All we wanted was an edit button. All we wanted was an edit button.All we wanted was an edit button.All we wanted was an edit button. All we wanted was an edit button.All we wanted was an edit buttonAll we wanted was an edit button. #280characters
— NUFF (@nuffsaidNY) November 7, 2017
ALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTONALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTONALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTONALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTONALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTONALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTONALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTONALL WE NEED IS AN EDIT BUTTON#280characters
— 🗣 (@selfdasein) November 8, 2017
The expanded character limit is rolling out right now everywhere – except for in Chinese, Japanese and Korean – all languages that Twitter says are already capable of enough information being contained in 140 characters.
