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Twitter To Stop Counting Photos And Links In 140-Character Limit (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Twitter will stop counting photos and links as part of its 140-character limit for tweets in as soon as two weeks, according to a source familiar with the matter. Right now, links take up 23 characters, even after Twitter automatically shortens them. In January, the Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey said the company was looking for new ways to display text on Twitter, and would experiment based on how people use the service. The company considered raising the limit of characters to as many as 10,000. The reason it abides by a 140-character limit is because it allows for tweets to be sent within a mobile text message, which was a common form of sending tweets back in 2006 when the site debuted. Earlier this month, it was reported Twitter blocked U.S. intelligence agencies from having access to a widely used data mining service it partly owns.
Can anyone tell me why this matters? I doubt it. Twitter isn't a good place for informed discussion. Plus, it's easy enough to post multiple tweets if something exceeds the 140 character limit. So, why would anyone care about this? Besides, social media is for people who aren't intelligent and don't care about privacy. I'll get modded down to -1 for asking this because Slashdot users don't like answering important questions. But this needs to be asked, and I challenge any of you to give me a real answer rather than insulting me. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone here is up to the challenge.
This is the day of the reckoning. I got that, I am in the 90s feeling now. And I am excited! I just can't hide it! I'm about to lose my mind! And I think I like it!
The 140 character limit does not matter.
It is neither sociologically interesting nor technically anything.
It's like an ugly modern art sculpture that Twitter users trip over while crossing the room.
As ridiculous and pointless as the phallic sculpture from Clockwork Orange.
Everyone pretends the sculpture is something to talk about.
But they're just pretending.
The bruises they receive from tripping over the 140 character limit are shown off proudly.
It is a form of sadism, perhaps of slight psychological interest.
Discussing Twitter's 140 character limit is a cry for help.
"Please...! it cries, "Help us find something that matters!"
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
People contracting words to fit 140 characters of pure text will still suck and be hard to read.
Is that good? Bad? Relevant?
These days, people don’t know how to he informative and concise. Twitter forces people to think about what they write. However, 140 characters can also be overly restrictive sometimes, which is why people have wanted to increase the character limit. But if they increase it too much, Twitter will just turn into another blogging service. I think that simple exempting images and links is a good compromise.
The reason it abides by a 140-character limit is because it allows for tweets to be sent within a mobile text message, which was a common form of sending tweets back in 2006 when the site debuted.
That's no reason to limit it when posting via other methods. That would be like limiting the number of words in a letter since postcards have a limited amount of space.
Earlier this month, it was reported Twitter blocked U.S. intelligence agencies from having access to a widely used data mining service it partly owns.
What's that got to do with the 140 character limit?
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Oh thank God, does this mean everybody will stop using URL-shorteners finally? Eugh.
Twitter is toying with the thing that sets it apart. The obvious next change would be to not count hashtags against the limit. And then on top of that they will start changing the character limit to find some sort of sweet spot.
The only time I hear about twitter it is when a media outlet writes a story about someone, usually someone else who works in the media, tweeting something that they think is important. From this I conclude that twitter is just a bunch of media and PR people sending messages between themselves so they can report those messages as 'news' to the general public when there is nothing else going on in the world.
Is Twitter making a profit yet, or is it still the posterboy for Bubble 2.0
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
Meanwhile back in the real world, Twitter is still subject to the FISA Court and run by people who are neither brave nor powerful enough to defy it without an immediate "stop, don't pass go and collect $200; go immediately to federal prison" response from their local US Attorney.
So the only question is whether or not Twitter is still providing real time access on a passive, less cooperative basis or whether they quietly advertised a "FISA Compliance Support Team" that will expedite your data request for a low, low hourly rate as fast as you can get them an order.
I always wondered what the reason was for the 140 character limit when my phone's SMS limit was 160.
I have observed a tendency in all business, after having a huge success with something, to try to change it, and change again, till they kill it. I suppose it's a consequence of the human inability for just doing nothing, and letting things be.
I don't use Twitter, never have, never seen the point. But I know about Twitter The reason being that tweets are cited in all kind of media. The reason being that tweets force people to be concise, and produce text-bites for the media to consume. Forcing people to be concise is something you don't get with 10000 characters. So I suppose I'll cut myself short, too...
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
Haven't they never made money?
i certainly hope they aren't saying you can include as many links/images per tweet as you want or idiots will start putting several links in every tweet. the upside is that this could do away with link indirection which is just masking your true destination.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
The fact that the above post was downmodded so quickly is proof that anime characters did 9/11.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Can anyone tell me why this matters? I doubt it. Twitter isn't a good place for informed discussion. Plus, it's easy enough to post multiple tweets if something exceeds the 140 character limit. So, why would anyone care about this? Besides, social media is for people who aren't intelligent and don't care about privacy. I'll get modded down to -1 for asking this because Slashdot users don't like answering important questions. But this needs to be asked, and I challenge any of you to give me a real answer rather than insulting me. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone here is up to the challenge.
And that's what I call a person holding self-fulfilling prophesies. You are not interested in a conversation. You are interested in a confrontation. If you doubt the audience is willing or capable to give you an intelligent answer to something you seem to have set your mind already, then why bother if not just still some emotional e-shit?
This is like those people who go to dating sites putting adds that read "am I attractive" or "are there any good men left, I doubt it."
Feel free to take this post as proof that you were right, that none of us are up to the challenge (as you so eloquently put it.)
Slashdot should do this.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Who gives a fuck about the character limit on Twitter? Is it really that slow of a news day?
It's been a while since I've been on twitter, but it used to drive me up the wall that username tags and retweets all counted against my character count. Also, what's stopping us from flooding the tweets with garbage long URL's?
Information is lost by using images containing text, it isn't searchable, nor can it be copy pasted.
this can be an advantage.
Not for readers who use a speech- or Braille-based screen reader because they are blind or hard of sight. In fact, it can be a liability for those subject to disability discrimination laws.