Twitter introduces 4,000-character tweets

Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, has announced that from February 2023 Twitter users will be able post tweets up to 4,000 characters long, a substantial increase on the current limit of 280.

To put that into some context, the new limit equates to somewhere between 570 and 1000 words - 14 times longer than what we’ve got used to.

The increase is only the 2^nd in Twitter's 17-year history and is one of several changes that Twitter's new polemical owner has planned as part of a larger user interface overhaul.  

Other changes include the ability to:

•  swipe between tweets from people you follow,
•  recommended tweets, and
•  bookmark tweets.

Musk has stated that the proposed change is to allow people to post long-form content on Twitter, a move that has disgruntled some commentators who feel it removes a defining characteristic of the platform that makes it attractive to users.

How will the character increase affect how we use Twitter?

One thing we can say, is that this adjustment will spell the end for ‘threads’ that we have become so familiar with. Whilst threads were useful for engagement, the very lengthy ones have proved tricky to read which has resulted in a whole mini-industry of bots (like the Thread Reader App) emerging that convert threads into easy-to-read articles or note form.

This major change will inevitably alter how Twitter is used, benefitting those who prefer Twitter to other social media platforms or have built up a large community on Twitter and find the current character limit restrictive. It will allow users to write a long-form article and share their thoughts and opinions while being able to access the distribution that posting to Twitter can provide.

Users have been assured by Musk that timeline and screen space will remain the same (so we’ll still be able to scroll and quickly digest topics, comments and content) but we’ll now have the ability to click to ‘read more’ that will expand the narrative box.

Is it a good thing for Marketers?

Like most things in life, it’s how you use it that matters. We can see that in some situations longer form Twitter content could be useful. For example, we’ll be able to share detailed Conference Programme information to help promote an event, or longer testimonials.

However, Marketers don’t just use Twitter for branding and visibility purposes. We use it to drive traffic to websites which supports SEO and enables us to gather analytics that help to inform and shape future marketing campaigns. So we'd recommend still sticking to the technique of posting a link back to your website if you've got longer content to share.

The increasing character length could also be seen as an attempt to persuade people to purchase a Twitter Blue subscription (at a cost of £8 per monthat 12/1/23) which gives users the ability to edit their tweets. This could prove useful for correcting spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in the longer posts that the increased character limit would bring. 

On balance, having the option to post long form content on Twitter is a change to be embraced.

If you’d like to talk to us about how we can help you use social media to elevate your profile or provide you with strategic marketing support, please contact Natalie Rodgers on 0114 407 0159 or office@scala.uk.com