Here's Why Twitter's 140-Character Limit Needs To Stay Put
Design by Cori Rosen
Rumor has it Twitter is rethinking the 140-character limit.
That's right, if the rumor proves true, people will have the option to write novels about eating a sandwich for lunch, how terrible Monday's are, and how Jessica was being such a bitch last night… all on Twitter, all the time. Re/code reported that the company is creating a new product that will allow Twitter users to use more than 140 characters.
Twitter was designed in 2006 as a way to post messages similar to SMS text messages. The 140-character limit was set to minimize the hassle of tweeting and to make it quick like sending a text. Now that most of the country has graduated to smartphones, people are questioning whether or not Twitter should rethink their method.
I'm not trying to sound cynical, but do we really need an extended character limit? I will admit that sometimes it does get annoying when you literally have one or two more letters to add, but on the bright side, the limit forces you to consolidate each tweet. The change has those grammar-obsessed people who cringe at the idea of typing “b4” and “idk” excited, but should we be concerned with people who get angry over the grammar in tweets? We would all love the idea of being able to write in complete sentences and yes, most of our professors argue Twitter and texting have our generation using abbreviations in our essays... but let's really think about what this update means.
The update basically turns Twitter into Facebook. I mean, the unspoken rule of Facebook was to do as little posts as possible, but the great thing about Twitter is tweeting a lot is actually considered a good thing. It seems like this change will likely make people inclined to type paragraph-long tweets and repeat them five to six more times during the day… and these are the things we need to think about, people.
We all know that some people just love to share a little too much and I'm not talking about inappropriate information about their relationships. I'm talking about the very, very long posts that (let's be frank) nobody gives a fuck about. You can’t scroll through your timeline and skim tweets if you have to stop for two minutes to read one full tweet. We've seen it on Snapchat and we've seen it on Tumblr, some people’s stories desperately need to be cut to 140-characters or just not be said at all. Short and simple is always best. Twitter is basically putting out the welcome mat for people to drone on and on about how life's treating them or their recent breakups (or worst, for posting Tumblr quotes).
Yes, young people love to share personal information, but they also have a short attention span. Seeing a long extended paragraph on social media outlets is something that most turn away from. Lets be honest, we are quick to turn away from a long Snapchat story. Unless, it's a long text message from a friend telling you about some great gossip, we just won’t watch it. For the sake of everyone’s sanity and entertainment, let’s just keep it to a minimum of 140 characters.