Netimperative
Netimperative
  • Home
  • Ads
  • Content
  • Mobile
  • E-commerce
  • Social
  • Regulation
  • Video
  • Viral
Menu
  • Apple
  • Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • YouTube

Twitter to exclude photos and links from 140-character limit – report

May 17, 2016

Photos and links will no longer count towards Twitter’s 140 character limit, as the social network looks to give its users more room to tweet, according to a new report.

According to Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, Twitter will make the update in the next two weeks.

Links currently take up to 23 characters of a tweet, reducing the space available to users for their own writing when sharing other online content.

Twitter will stop counting photos and links in a 140-character limit https://t.co/r2NL5n2CA6 pic.twitter.com/BITrSjsQ0f

— Bloomberg (@business) May 16, 2016

The news comes after a series of tweaks to Twitter as the company tries to boost engagement.
In February, the company updated to an algorithmic timeline that no longer displayed tweets in chronological order.

Back in January this year, Twitter said it was considering ditching its 140-character limit in tweets, expanding it to a whopping 10,000 characters.

The firm is aiming to appeal to a wider audience amid growing competition from upstarts such as Instagram and Snapchat. If Twitter allowed tweets of up to 10,000 characters, it could produce 1,700-word messages.

Chief executive officer Jack Dorsey has said the company was looking for ways for users to post longer pieces of text on Twitter, noting that many often post screenshots of longer articles.

The company removed the 140-character limit in direct messages last year.

The 140-character limit was originally added to make tweets fit into a text message. When the company launched in 2006, before smartphones were available, many users typed their tweets as texts before posting them.

Dorsey has since described the limit as a “beautiful constraint” that “inspires creativity and brevity”.

However, the company has struggled to attract new users and has seen its share price decline by more than 70% over the past year.

Twitter hasn’t made a profit since launching in 2006. In comparison Facebook has 1.5 billion users and made £579m between July and September last year.

Jack Dorsey, who returned to the company last July, helped create Twitter in 2006. He imposed a 140-character limit on messages so the service would be easy to use on mobile phones that could only deal with 160 character texts at that time. Those limits disappeared after smartphones took off and allowed people to use other internet messaging services, making Twitter’s restrictions look increasingly out of date.

Social content, Facebook, smartphones, Twitter

Archives

Tags

advertising agencies Amazon analytics Android Apple apps Australia BBC brands Brazil broadband China Christmas comScore content digital marketing ecommerce email Entertainment Europe Facebook France games Germany global Google government images infographic local marketing media Microsoft music Privacy retail Search security smartphones technology Twitter UK video YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Top six Valentine’s Day ads for 2022
  • 2021 Halloween: digital marketing campaigns we loved this year
  • Empowering employees; the critical link between EX and CX
  • Investing in in-app social features is a must in a world that is crying out to be connected
  • QR codes, Gen Z and the future of OOH

Copyright © 2025 Netimperative.

Magazine WordPress Theme by themehall.com

We use cookies to improve the website and your experience. We’ll assume you’re okay with this, but you’re welcome to opt-out
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT