Tweet Your Heart Out. You Get 280 Characters

It’s official. Twitter has doubled the 140 character limit. Most users now get 280 characters per Tweet.

Exceptions:

“Japanese, Korean, and Chinese will continue to have 140 characters because cramming is not an issue in these languages.”

–Aliza Rosen, Product Manager, Twitter

Twitter has been testing 280 character Tweets since September 2017, and discovered that 95% of users are still Tweeting fewer than 140 characters. Of the 5% of users who Tweeted over 140 characters, only 2% of them were posting Tweets of over 190 characters.

Interestingly, since the early days of Twitter, only 9% of Tweets in English hit the 140 character wall, probably because people carefully edit their thoughts for brevity or they give up and don’t post Tweets they can’t pare down.

Since Twitter began testing 280 character Tweets, only 1% of Tweets reached the limit. I expect this percentage will surge as users begin crafting lengthier tweets.

The advantage of longer Tweets

The folks at Twitter claim that longer Tweets appear to be increasing engagement, beefing up follower counts, and getting people to spend more time on Twitter.

“People in the experiment told us that a higher character limit made them feel more satisfied with how they expressed themselves on Twitter, their ability to find good content, and Twitter overall.”

–Aliza Rosen, Product Manager, Twitter

What some individuals and brands are doing with 280 characters:

Walt Disney World:

It’s a small world after all!
It’s a small world after all!
It’s a small world after all!
It’s a small, small world!

It’s a small world after all!
It’s a small world after all!
It’s a small world after all!
It’s a small world after all! #WaltDisneyWorld #280characters http://pic.twitter.com/IIlAGL6bld

— WDW Today (@WDWToday) November 7, 2017

Law and Order: SVU:

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories. *DUN DUN*

— Law and Order: SVU (@nbcsvu) November 7, 2017

Miss Piggy:

What to say when vous discover you suddenly have #280characters on Twitter: Moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi, moi & moi!!

— Miss Piggy (@MissPiggy) November 7, 2017

Sergeant Estrada:

MY 1ST #280characters TWEET DEDICATED 2 OUR FALLEN TROOPS!

W/out the brave efforts of our Fallen Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, & Airmen, America & our Allies around the world, would not stand so Boldly, Shine so Brightly & Live so Freely…THANK U, INFINITE SALUTE & LOVE! http://pic.twitter.com/iuSXiOEBBp

— Sergeant Estrada (@GIJoeOPS) November 8, 2017

MGM Studios:

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR! 🦁 #280characters http://pic.twitter.com/vULoeIetMC

— MGM Studios (@MGM_Studios) November 8, 2017

Airbnb:

Travel Itinerary in #280Characters:

1. 🛫….🛬
Watch the sunrise from a treehouse in Bali.

2. 🛫….🛬
Bike Bangkok’s bamboo nature trails with your host.

3. 🛫….🛬
Train like a true samurai in a traditional dojo.

4. 🛫….🛬
Make your way home.

— Airbnb (@Airbnb) November 9, 2017

Google Maps:

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You have arrived at your destination.#280Characters

— Google Maps (@googlemaps) November 8, 2017

Keeping it short

Chris Marshall:

#280characters is giving me a Twitter headache. As a writer I will miss the challenge of brevity. http://pic.twitter.com/k281B6DMNj

— Chris Marshall (@c_davidmarshall) November 8, 2017

Garfield: