‘@Names Will No Longer Take Up the 140 Twitter Character Limit

Twitter Logo Blue bird

Prepare yourself for an exciting development in the Twitterverse.

Shortly, the familiar 140-character limit that Twitter users have grown accustomed to will significantly change. Specifically, the character limit will no longer include media attachments such as images, videos, polls, GIFs, and names starting with “@.”

Currently, when incorporating attachments like photos or links, 23 characters are deducted, leaving users with a mere 117 characters for their message. However, with the impending modification, you will have 140 characters to craft your tweets.

Unlike certain Twitter features introduced without widespread demand, excluding media and names from the 140-character limit is a valuable enhancement. This change is poised to provide greater flexibility and utility for users.

Since its inception, Twitter has encouraged its users to wield their words judiciously, as the character limit necessitated thoughtful consideration when expressing thoughts or ideas. With the forthcoming adjustment, you will finally have more room to articulate a broader range of content. While it may not grant unlimited freedom, it will undoubtedly expand your expressive capabilities.

Want to know what SEO Inc. can help you do with the added space to your Twitter character limit? Read on!

Why the Twitter Character Limit is Changing

In its announcement, Twitter wants users to “express even more.” They acknowledge how the platform is used for photos, videos, polls, hashtags, and even Vines. It’s become an ideal place for starting and continuing conversations. With the decision to free up its character count, Twitter wants users to have more freedom to say what they want rather than being tied up by every letter and symbol.

When You Can Expect to “Express More” on Twitter

Here are all the upcoming changes:

@names – When replying to a tweet, names will no longer expand your total Twitter character count. This lets you have more meaningful conversations, especially with more than one person. No more having to include everyone in the conversation and having only enough space for simple “yes” or “no” responses.

Images, Videos, and more – Media attachments like images and videos make for some of the most engaging content on Twitter. They’ll create even more engagement, as they won’t affect the character count. This includes images, videos, polls, GIFs, retweets, and quoted tweets.

Retweets and Quotes – Twitter will soon let you retweet and quote tweets without taking up precious characters. Also, you can retweet yourself more efficiently with a new Retweet button. So if a tweet you felt deserved more attention than it got, you’ll be able to try again.

No more “.@” – Twitter wants to do away with them. “@ convention” is currently the only way to write a tweet that begins with a username and is sent to all your followers, not just the one. Twitter will make it, so you don’t have to use that weird-yet-functional workaround. Your tweet will look smoother and more natural and won’t even count against your Twitter character count!

All these changes are expected to roll out in the coming months. Twitter says more new changes will be coming, but we’ll get to those when the time comes.

In the meantime, follow SEO Inc. on Twitter to learn the latest news in social media and search engine optimization.

Check out our Social Media Image Dimensions and Size Guide to learn how to post the optimal images on your tweets.

Ready to Collaborate? Contact Us!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Blog Sidebar

Categories.

NEWSLETTER

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
Newsletter Signup