Users should automatically see the 280-character feature. If not, they can update their mobile app or refresh twitter.com on their computers.
For years, Twitter has toyed with the notion of removing its 140-character rule, which was established around when the company was created in 2006.
Twitter says historically 9 percent of tweets in English hit the 140-character limit, but the volume falls to 1 percent when 280 characters are available.
In the past two years, Twitter has dropped the limit when people send direct messages to one another. It’s also relaxed limitations on photos, videos and GIFs, and replies to other users. The company said historically about 9 percent of tweets in English hit the 140-character limit. When the 280-character trial began, that number dropped to 1 percent.
Many users tweeted the full 280 limit because it was “new and novel,” Twitter’s Rosen wrote in her blog post. However, once the novelty wore off, she said about 5 percent of tweets sent were longer than 140 characters and only 2 percent were over 190 characters.
And users who had more room to tweet, received more followers, retweets, likes and mentions, she added.
When the 280-character trial began, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in series of tweets that the original 140-character limit was arbitrary, inspired by the 160-character limit for SMS messages over cell phones. He expected “the snark and critique” about the change and said most users likely won’t use the full 280 characters.
“What matters now is we clearly show why this change is important, and to prove to you it’s better,” he said. “Give us some time to learn and confirm (or challenge!) our ideas.”
