In a move to get users to share more links and photos, Twitter may be dropping URLs from the character count, meaning they won’t cut into a tweet’s 140 character limit.
The change, leaked to Bloomberg but unconfirmed by Twitter as of yet, could show up within the next two weeks. While it’s not the 10,000 character limit Twitter was said to be considering earlier this year, the move would make it easier for users to comment on links or share context of photos.
Currently, all links — including pictures and quoted tweets — are shortened to 23 characters through Twitter’s automatic t.co shortening system. It’s unclear if the t.co system will stay in place with the new system, but the link shortener previously wreaked havoc with Safari users.
The company may also be running out of unique URLs in the t.co system. It bumped up URL lengths from 20 to 23 characters back in 2013. Bumping them up again, say to 25 characters, would leave users with just 115 characters to comment on the shared link.
Of course, Twitter users reacted strongly to the news. While removing links from the character count won’t lead to much lengthier tweets, some users were still upset.
Disagree. Economy has always been the prized skill in tweeting, this undermines it.
— Toby Harshaw (@tobinharshaw) May 16, 2016
this is basically like if snapchat said snaps would now last for a week. point is that you play within the rules of the platform. it’s fun
— jake (@jakebeckman) May 16, 2016
But others were happier about the change.
https://twitter.com/zkahn94/status/732284766083485696
folks the last thing we need is 23 more characters on twitter! we have plenty already! (will do this joke everytime) https://t.co/Mw4jxMMJpF
— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) May 16, 2016
While opening up the character count a little may be more transparent for novice users, it may not be enough to draw in new signups, something which the company desperately needs in the eyes of Wall Street. The company missed expectations last quarter and hasn’t really recovered from a 10 percent dive in stock price.
