WASHINGTON- Twitter officials announced on Tuesday that Twitter would test its new 280 character limit, doubling the previous 140 cutoff. Digital analysts say this is Twitter’s latest strategy to combat its decreasing profits and user growth.
In a blog post, Twitter explained its decision to test the character limit adjustment. It discovered that users struggle to convey their thoughts in a concise 140 characters, except those tweeting in Japanese, Chinese and Korean. In character-based languages, Twitter officials wrote, “you can convey about double the amount of information in one character as you can in many other languages, like English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French.”
Twitter said it hoped this new change would make it easier for current and new users to tweet. “We want every person around the world to easily express themselves on Twitter,” officials wrote.
Brian Solis, a digital analyst at the Altimeter Group, praised Twitter’s decision as an evolutionary advancement for the company. “Expanding the canvas to 280 ushers in a new era of communication and Twitter 2.0,” he said.
Twitter’s announcement came during a pivotal moment for Twitter’s future, said Scott Talan, a social media expert and assistant professor of Public & Strategic Communication at American University. “All social sites seek to survive and in doing so illustrate the notion of ‘Digital Darwinism’,” Talan said. Digital Darwinism defines the modern era where technology and society’s needs are evolving faster than businesses can adapt.
Talan said it was a necessary move to remain competitive, noting that “the character increase comes at a time where Twitter is challenged for its future ahead.”
Twitter, however, has consistently struggled with its profits, according to the Trefis Team at Forbes magazine. “Twitter has not been able to turn a profit in its history,” their team wrote.
Twitter’s stock saw its highest point in January 2014 at $69, shortly after it went public. Since the stock price has been declining. Over the course of the last month, the stock fluctuated between $16 and $18, currently selling at $16.87.
Despite reporting digital growth in a 2017 second quarter released in July, Twitter saw a 5% year-over-year decrease in revenue.
While the character increase could be a good ploy to encourage tweeting, Talan said, it may have come too late. “Twitter’s decision to double the number of characters is only surprising in that they had not done it earlier,” he said. “For some people, the 140 character limit offered too short a space to contribute and participate.”
This move represents an adaptation that could change the conversations Twitter users are used to. Twitter said it expected an emotional response, however, is excited to share the new restraint.
“There may be an emotional attachment to 140 characters,” Twitter wrote. “But we tried this [280 character limit], saw the power of what it will do, and fell in love with this new, still, brief constraint.”