Twitter removing links and pics from the 140-character limit

Twitter had been thinking of expanding the 140-character limit before choosing to keep it

The multiple reports that had surfaced, saying that Jack Dorsey was looking to get rid of Twitter's 140-character limit, all turned out to be false when the company decided to keep the limit after all. That does not mean that everything is going to stay the same, though. Twitter is going to evolve; it has to. 

That means there are probably going to be changes coming to Twitter's format, one in particular that many will likely embrace.

Twitter is going to stop counting photos and links in the 140-character limit for Tweets, according to a report out from Bloomberg on Monday. That will give users at least 23 more characters to play with, as that is the number currently taken up by links, even when they are shortened.

In some ways this move seems like a compromise, striking the balance between appeasing those who want more room on Twitter to write their thoughts, while also not offending those that see the limit as one of the most deeply embedded, and fundamental, features of the company since it was founded.

It also one that allows Dorsey to expand the number of characters without going against the ethos of the company, or what he said about it a few months ago.

“It’s a good constraint for us, and it allows for of-the-moment brevity," he said on the Today Show, when he revealed the decision.

It had been reported that Twitter might push the limit up to 10,000 characters, more than 70 times what it is currently, which also happened to be the same number of characters that Twitter now allows for its Direct Messages. That would have been a change that would have altered the service, and how people use it, pretty heavily. This change, on the other hand, will be minimal in comparison and likely won't ruffle too many feathers. 

People take changes to Twitter very seriously, probably more seriously than they should. People lost their minds when word broke in February that Twitter was getting set to alter its timeline, and start showing Tweets in order of relevancy, rather than chronologically. People who use Twitter basically had a meltdown. Even professional writers got in on the action, basically calling it the end of Twitter as we know it. 

That, too, turned out to be overblown, as Twitter made the feature opt-in, and with only a select number of out of order Tweets right at the top of the timeline. 

The exclusion of links and pictures from the character limit could be coming very soon, perhaps even within the next two weeks, according to the report.

This move may also have another benefit for Twitter; it would allow more users to add photos into their Tweets, without worrying about them taking up too much space, giving them the opportunity to add more media onto the platform. Twitter, which has had a lot of trouble getting more people on, has come to rely on its position as a media platform to drive ad sales and revenue. Giving users more room to post, with more media, will likely help it drive revenue up. 

VatorNews has reached out to Twitter for confirmation, but the company would not comment on the report. 

(Image source: rivaliq.com)