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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: the 140-Character Limit 'Is Staying'

An anonymous reader writes: The rumor that Twitter will scrap its 140-character limit for tweets just won't die. In an interview with NBC this morning, CEO Jack Dorsey has gone on record to say that the limit is staying.

38 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Like that's gonna matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    He said that they had no intention of messing with the chronological timeline, and here we are.

  2. Flash Required = Fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sorry, I'm not going to use Flash just so I can see some interview. I know how to read, post a transcript of the interview.

  3. Re:The war on white space by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    YesabsolutelyrightIthinkEnglishisgoingtolookalooklikegermaninthenodistantfuture.

  4. Yes - twitter is for by xtronics · · Score: 1

    People that can't put two complete thoughts toge

  5. Re:The war on white space by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

    Also there are people who don't write the spaces in "a lot" or "at least"

    That would be what we call misspelled.

    Way back when, a college friend got a paper back from a professor with the following written across the first page in big, red marker:

    "a lot" is two words, remember this or I will kill you

    He never misspelled it again.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  6. Also said during the interview by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    >>Twitter founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey insists his social media platform does not censor user content, despite suspicion suggesting otherwise.

    >>"Absolutely not," he told TODAY's Matt Lauer

    Bullshit. #FreeStacy

  7. This is why CEOs earn so much money by JoeyRox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Because they have to make the tough executive decisions, like how long a tweet should be.

  8. Re:Offering others a chance to share the pie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Now that Twitter has made its final decision, that it will be sticking strictly to the 140-character limit, a new chance has opened for others to offer similar service offering messages with longer length

    Yes. It's called Facebook.

    Twitter has always been a solution in search of a problem. With the 140 character limit its impossible to conduct any meaningful communication. Without the limit, its no different than the gazillion other places where people can post their self-important, mindless drivel that nobody give two shits about

  9. Right... by Mashiki · · Score: 2

    This is right after he said Twitter wasn't censoring anyone. When there's ample evidence of people being told to delete factual tweets, because it hurts someones feels.

    You're doing a bang up job there Jack. You opened at nearly $17.20 and closed at just above $16.50 in after hours trading.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  10. Re:The war on white space by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

    These days we say this (is, a, message, )

  11. Increase it a bit, at least by honestmonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wish they would increase it just a bit, say to 144, because sometimes I have things to say and they just don't seem to fit into 140 charac

    --
    Everything you know is wrong, Just forget the words and sing along.
    1. Re:Increase it a bit, at least by the_humeister · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You should post in Chinese then. 140 characters is plenty in a logographic writing system.

    2. Re:Increase it a bit, at least by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I bet there's a scary german word for that

    3. Re:Increase it a bit, at least by antdude · · Score: 1

      Or better, shrink it down to 1 bit!

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    4. Re:Increase it a bit, at least by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I tried to post a 0 in response to this, but Slashdot wouldn't let me reply with that as my whole comment.

      0

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  12. Whew! by slowdeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't think I could take more that 140 characters of Donald Trump at one time!

    Donald Trump. Just say no.

    1. Re:Whew! by slowdeath · · Score: 1

      The Real True One And Only Donald would never post as AC! Imposter! :-)

    2. Re:Whew! by blogagog · · Score: 1

      Agreed! The only thing worse than Trump would be Clinton.

    3. Re:Whew! by WallyL · · Score: 1

      Truth. Fortunately, I seriously doubt a man of Trump's... profession would actually ever visit /.

    4. Re:Whew! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      If I weren't so lazy, I would totally make a new account just to reply to this...unfortunately, I am lazy.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  13. Just in case by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    "Twitter users can relax, we remain absolutely committed to prohibit any text that may provoke any important thoughts or opinions."

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  14. Oh, Jack Dorsey is doing much worse than that by Nova+Express · · Score: 2

    About a year ago, Twitter was trading in the 50s. So Jack Dorsey has managed to destroy more than half the value of the company.

    What do you expect from the genius who hired Sarkeesian to protect free speech, which is like hiring Ted Bundy to run a battered women’s shelter

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

    1. Re:Oh, Jack Dorsey is doing much worse than that by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Twitter has never generated a profit and loses a couple hundred million dollars every year.

      That is not possible. If they never generated a profit, what money are they spending over their income every year?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  15. Re:Offering others a chance to share the pie by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    I love how the '140 chars isnt enuffs!' argument is brought up on the site that popularized the term 'RTFA'.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  16. Re: The war on white space by stridebird · · Score: 1

    You better have alittle understanding of why alot is so wrong.

  17. Re: The war on white space by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

    "I'm not wrong, I'm just changing the definition of right!"

  18. Re:140? by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

    the space also counts as a character. so that's 7.

  19. Re:Offering others a chance to share the pie by niftymitch · · Score: 1

    Now that Twitter has made its final decision, that it will be sticking strictly to the 140-character limit....

    Simple solution...
    Tweet: "Bob check your mail"
    Tweet: "Bob check my blog"
    Tweet: "Bob look up! I am sitting across from you at the dinner table."

    --
    Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
  20. Incentives for crass stupidity by RogueyWon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've mixed feelings over social media in general, but Twitter in the specific makes my blood boil.

    It's a medium that seems designed to kill off nuance, civility and sophistication of thought. By forcing people into 140 characters and providing social incentives for them to use those 140 characters to say something that will be shared as widely as possible, it encourages them to make the crassest, most polarizing statements possible. I'd put Twitter as the number one reason that so many online debates these days devolve into bitter mud-slinging between the loudest fringes of two opposing echo-chambers.

    The rapid-response culture of twitter just makes things worse. Combined with the anonymity of online interactions, it compels people to speak before they've had a chance to do a sense-check and think through the consequences. There's no shortage of examples of responsible individuals in major corporations who have thrown away careers because they got sucked into the vortex that Twitter creates. One example, former Microsoft director Adam Orth and the "deal with it" furore over the planned always-online functionality for the Xbox One. Now, you could argue that in this case, Twitter did us a service by providing him with a platform to air his (or the company's) "true feeling". I'm not necessarily sure that's the right response, though. I strongly suspect pretty much everybody has "true feelings" which are pretty appalling at times (I know I do) and a huge part of social interaction is toning those things down before they can fly from your mouth (or indeed, stopping them altogether). Twitter, by design, takes the brakes off.

    Some people can be incredibly witty and lucid within a single sentence. You see those in the occasional +5 Funny or +5 Insightful post on slashdot. Those people are a minority (and most of them struggle to manage it consistently). Most one-line posts are badly written crap (and usually from ACs). Twitter just institutionalizes that, except with less anonymity.

    1. Re:Incentives for crass stupidity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      TL;DR

    2. Re:Incentives for crass stupidity by DamonHD · · Score: 1

      Brevity is better than waffle, given the choice...

      Rgds

      Damon

      --
      http://m.earth.org.uk/
  21. Channeling Bill Gates by hackertourist · · Score: 1

    140 characters should be enough for anyone.

  22. Re:Offering others a chance to share the pie by infolation · · Score: 1

    Everyone knows that
    seventeen syllables are
    more than sufficient

  23. Re:The war on white space by infolation · · Score: 2

    YesabsolutelyrightIthinkEnglishisgoingtolookalooklikegermaninthenodistantfuture.

    That's how Thai, Laos and Myanmar script is actually written (zero spaces).

    And by using diacritical marks to indicate vowels, those languages are extremely economical. (Twitter-friendly).

  24. customers by kqc7011 · · Score: 1

    The 140 might be staying, but the customers are going.

    --
    Passionately Indifferent
  25. Re:The war on white space by PessimysticRaven · · Score: 1

    I wish I could argue with this, but I cannot.

    --
    Consistency is only a virtue if you're not a screw-up.
  26. 140 is staying...but does that preclude expanding? by ScooterComputer · · Score: 1

    That Jack said 140 characters is staying, I'm wondering might be one of those Steve Jobsian deft maneuvers where you say what people are listening for, but aren't actually saying what you're planning (and thus don't actually ANSWER the question).

    I'd not mind Twitter to stick to 140 characters for tweets as they appear in the Feed. In fact, I tweeted Jack my suggestion:
    - 140 characters Tweets would stay. You could continue to tweet 140 characters at a time, OR the 140 character tweet could also be a Summary Tweet that includes expands out into a Super Tweet.
    - Super Tweet that would be 500 characters (something like that). The Summary Tweet would show in the Timeline with a "more..." expander widget. Users could choose to subscribe to a Feed or an Expanded Feed, and that would determine how much Tweet the feed is sent. If you sub to an Expanded Feed, you get the 500 character tweets in your timeline without having to make a call-back to Twitter to "load more". For normal feeds, you'd have to wait while the tweet expands. 140 characters can just be too limited a lot of the time, and anywhere from 200 to 500 would be a welcome expansion. The user would be able to edit the Summary Tweet "part" of a Super Tweet before Sending.
    - Finally, Twitter should support a Long-form Note. This wouldn't be that difficult, basically some standardized manner to link to a blog post or article, which might be hosted at Twitter, or not be. The nice thing is that they could implement Notes the way Jack has already been using OS X's Note app, use an image representation and attach that to the Summary Tweet/Super Tweet that links to it.

    That doesn't mean that 140 has to go away, just as Jack says. It will stay. But that wouldn't have to mean that Twitter can't expand the kinds of Tweets as well.

    --
    Scott
    "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
  27. Someone still uses twitter? by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    Stupid platform used by stupid people.