News
This just in: The internet is about to get way better, because Twitter is reportedly relaxing the rules in its 140-character limit. So, what to do with those extra Twitter characters? There are many possibilities, of course, but let's all remember that with great character limits comes great responsibility. We've all been given a gift, and now the onus is on us to use these extra characters for the forces of good.
According to Bloomberg Technology, an unspecified source "familiar with the matter" has claimed that Twitter will soon stop counting photos and links as part of the 140-character limit. This is game-changing because every photo, video, or link — even after being automatically shortened by Twitter — currently counts as 23 characters. If that sounds overly generous, though, think again: According to Bloomberg, the company was previously considering raising its character limit to 10,000, but abandoned the plan since the small character limit is is pretty much what makes Twitter unique.
According to Bloomberg's source, we can expect this change to occur within the next two weeks. Which means that we have a mere two weeks to contemplate all the amazing things that can be done with our extra letters, numbers, and punctuation marks.
Still stuck on what to do with those precious 23 characters? Here are a few ideas.
Hone Your Debating Skills
There's no better platform than Twitter for a good debate. Whether it's a lighter topic like if last week's episode of Game of Thrones was boring (let's face it: it was) or whether Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is a misogynist (let's face it: he is), Twitter is the venue for hashing it out, so to speak. And now that links don't count as characters, you can include every synonym for creepster, not just some of them.
Get Happy With Hashtags
Now that we can use as many links as we want without going into the red, we have more space for hashtags, the tried-and-true currency of the Twitter-verse. This has a real impact on Tweeting strategy, actually, because more hashtags make one's Tweet more searchable. So go ahead and use those hashtags. Even if Twitter executives decided you can't have 10,000 more characters' worth of them, at least you have space for 23 characters' worth.
Feeling Emotional? There's An Emoticon For That
Like all else, emoticons should probably be used in moderation, but there are certain things in life that are best expressed via an outpouring of pictures of tiny faces or objects. But since emoticons count as one character on Twitter, the expression of our emotions was, sadly, restrained. Until now. The new rules give us 23 new emotions to express in a single Tweet, and there are surely many Twitter users out there who are up for the challenge.
Exclamation Points!!!!!
Now!!! You!!! Can!!! Use!!! More!!! Than Ever!!! Before!!!!!!!
Link Away
One of the interesting implications of Twitter's changes is that users might now have the flexibility to link more than once in a single Tweet. And now that there are more characters available to use for commentary, it would certainly be fitting to be able to comment on multiple links at once. The change won't necessarily allow users to post more photos in a single Tweet, though, because since 2014 Twitter already allowed users to post up to four photos while only suffering the 23-character penalty once.
Only time will tell if these welcome changes will help the beleaguered Twitter Inc. gain momentum. According to The Atlantic, Twitter suffers from declining ad revenue, and its stock performance has been disappointing ever since it went public 36 months ago. But based on everyone's happy reaction to this latest news, things might be looking up for Twitter—and now we'll be able to express our congratulations with 23 more emoticons.
