Twitter Says Despite More Characters Messages Are Shorter

Twitter Says Despite More Characters Messages Are Getting Shorter

You may recall that around a year ago, Twitter decided to increase the number of characters a user could post in a message. The increase, from 140 to 280 did raise concerns that the ‘short/snappy’ nature of the social media site might get spoiled with long-winded Facebook-style posts.

In a report via TheStar, however, Twitter has said that despite doubling the allowable length, people are sending shorter messages than ever.

More Characters = Shorter Messages?

It has been found that on average, a Tweet has actually decreased in length by the previous limit. Admittedly, this drop is only by 1 character, it is, however, curious to see that despite the possible length increasing people are not using it.

Maximum Length?

The report found that only around 1% of all Twitter posts made are the full 280 characters. In addition, only 12% go above the original limit of 140. As such, at least 88% of users are still sticking to the format before they made the changes.

This has been revealed on top of the fact that it seems people are steering away from abbreviations on it. Preferring to go for the full ‘Thank you’ rather than colloquial ‘TY’.

While this, of course, means very little to the social media site or it’s users, it does, at the very least, indicate that those who were pushing for the longer writing ability do not seem to be using it. A curious point, particularly given how vocal they were.

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!