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Elon Musk on Sunday said that Twitter can soon expand or even get rid of the 280-character limit on the platform.
He also confirmed that the company under him will look into increasing the length of videos so that users can post longer videos.
Responding to a user who asked if we can get rid of character limits, or at least greatly expand it, Musk said: “Absolutely”.
Another user asked him about posting longer videos on Twitter, to which he said: “100 per cent”.
Musk, who has acquired Twitter for $44 billion after a bitter battle, said in April this year that the micro-blogging platform needs long-form tweets which is “way overdue”.
Twitter currently allows people to post in 280 characters.
Reacting to a follower’s tweet thread, Musk said: “My most immediate takeaway from this novella of a thread is that Twitter is way overdue for long form tweets!”
Earlier, Musk demanded an Edit button, and the micro-blogging platform announced that it is working on such a feature that will allow users to correct errors in their tweets, albeit with some rules.
Twitter launched 280 characters in November 2017 to all users in supported languages, including English.
The company first announced the controversial plan to move beyond its traditional 140 characters in September 2017 with a small group of users.
Several Twitter users had argued that 280 characters would make Twitter less readable as the platform’s defining characteristic is the brevity of posts.
However, Twitter’s decision to double its character count from 140 to 280 characters did not dramatically change the length of Twitter posts.
According to the company, Twitter is still a place for briefer thoughts.
Only 1 per cent of tweets hit the 280-character limit, and only 12 per cent of tweets were longer than 140 characters, according to the data provided by the company a couple of years back. Only 5 per cent of tweets were longer than 190 characters.
Musk also wants to bring in a new verification regime wherein users may have to pay up to $20 a month for the blue tick mark, which was given out to people who faced impersonation on Twitter.
“Whole verification process is being revamped right now”, Musk said in a tweet.
Meanwhile, tech news website The Verge reported on Sunday that Twitter will likely increase the subscription price for Twitter Blue from $4.99 a month to $19.99 a month, citing internal correspondence.
Twitter Blue was launched in June last year as the platform’s first subscription service, which offers “exclusive access to premium features” on a monthly subscription basis including an option to edit tweets.
According to Twitter’s current policy, “The blue Verified badge on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. To receive the blue badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active.”
Current categories for verification include:
1. Government agencies, departments/ministries, and institutions
2. Prominent organizations including companies, brands, non-profit organizations
3. Individuals employed by Verified news organizations in a public-facing news reporting role including reporters, news anchors, and editors
4. Individuals who are not employed by, but consistently publish in Verified news publications
5. Leaders and other prominent executives of Verified companies, brands and non-profit organizations
6. Major entertainment companies, such as film studios, TV networks, and music entities. Official accounts of productions associated with these entities, such as films, events/festivals, or TV shows
7. Individual such as artists, performers, directors, and others in similar public-facing roles associated with such entities or their productions
8. Professional sports leagues, clubs, teams and global competitions such as Olympics and Paralympics
9. Athletes, coaches, team members, and others in similar management or public-facing roles associated with such entities. Esport athletes that are affiliated with Verified gaming teams or leagues
10. Outside the professional categories defined above, people who are using Twitter effectively to bring awareness, share information, and galvanize community members around a cause, to bring about socioeconomic, political, or cultural change, or to otherwise foster community
11. Established digital content creators who consistently publish original content (regardless of platform) for at least 6 months prior to applying and meet the follower or mention criteria
Elon Musk’s proposed changes to Twitter: Raise character limit, pay $20/mo for verification
