Twitter is moving away from its longstanding 140 character limit to ease those affected by the dreaded “cramming” that the English language is a victim of so often. With the 280 character limit, Twitter users will be able to express themselves without fear, not needing to, for example, say: “Please to inform that the Champion Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL will be joining me at the White House for Ceremony. Great team!” Please to inform? For ceremony? No. No longer.
With the free and easy 280 character limit (the boxer briefs of character limits) they can now say: “I am pleased to inform you that the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL will be joining me at the White House for a ceremony. They’re a great team!” The former line there is in the sweet spot of 163 characters. Very nice. Very articulate. And now you can use commas and apostrophes. What a day.
But this glorious change, which is meant to make people tweet more (even though it will technically allow people to tweet less) has a dark undercurrent. Almost everyone reacting to the test (before the official rollout) has the same take: There aren’t any new rules for harassment and bullying enforcement, and there still isn’t an “Edit” button after years of begging and pleading from users.
There’s also the Trump Factor™.
https://twitter.com/amirtibon/status/912786945188810752
https://twitter.com/darylginn/status/912790097887678465
if i wanted to see 280 characters i don't care about i'd just watch the game of the thrones
— Patrick (@PrayForPatrick) September 26, 2017
280 characters?! Holy shit if I could go back and edit all of my past tweets that cut off right before I reached what I actually wanted to s
— michael clifford (@Michael5SOS) September 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/celebrityhottub/status/912788436112769024
With 280 characters, North Korea doesn't stand a chance.
— Stuart Stevens (@stuartpstevens) September 26, 2017
I can't take 280 characters from Tomi Lahren. I just can't do it.
— Secular Talk🎙 (@KyleKulinski) September 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/chizimp/status/912792505191723008
https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/912797256092454912
https://twitter.com/MattRoth512/status/912786675906093057
280 characters is basically all 7 harry potter books foh
— Desus MF Nice💯 (@desusnice) September 26, 2017
Us: Ban the Nazis, take harassment seriously & stop that cheddar demon from declaring war on ur app
Twitter: …so you want 280 characters?— Kendra (@kendrawcandraw) September 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/MattSaccaro/status/912786419483123712
tfw you tell me we're gonna have 280 characters pic.twitter.com/j8jabaL6xR
— karen han (@karenyhan) September 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/druuuck/status/912785874127114241
https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/912783361550069760
https://twitter.com/TheFienPrint/status/912785563274559488
They just ruined Twitter #280Characters
— Erickay (@TheErickay) September 26, 2017
280 characters? what is this? game a thrones? a game of thrones novel? a song of ice and fire? a george rr martin book? written by him?
— Normal Fucking Rockwell! (@ItsJSaun) September 26, 2017