This week, Twitter rolled out two character-limit increases. The first increase came in the form of status updates (or “tweets”), which went from 140 characters up to 280. The second increase followed shortly thereafter. Display names can now be up to 50 characters, in place of the original 20-character limit.
The tweet rollout comes nearly one month after a test of the expansion for a small percentage of users. Based on the of the data from that rollout, Twitter decided to move forward with a broad-sweeping change. Twitter project manager, Aliza Rozen, had this to say about the tweet length increase:
Since we saw tweets hit the character limit less often, we believe people spent less time editing their tweets in the composer. This shows that more space makes it easier for people to fit thoughts in a tweet, so they could say what they want to say, and send tweets faster than before.
Twitter also made news this week after it gave its coveted, verified blue check to a confirmed white supremacist. After backlash, Twitter temporarily halted the verification system, and said this:
Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it.
Sources: The Independent
