Twitter is preparing to abolish the famous limit of 280 characters by launching a new function to publish long formats. Called Twitter Notes, it could well mark a turning point for the platform.

Twitter is preparing to abolish the famous limit of 280 characters by launching a new function to publish long formats. Called Twitter Notes, it could well mark a turning point for the platform.

The 280 character limit will soon be history for Twitter. While the platform is swimming in fog, especially with its complicated takeover by Elon Musk, it is preparing to deploy a new function in order to breathe new life into the social network. Say goodbye to word limits and hello to freedom! Indeed, Twitter Notes will allow you to exceed 280 characters, but also to include media, photos, videos and GIFs… Enough to give free rein to your expression! In addition to these new features, Twitter Notes will notably offer formatting tools to make articles more readable, something that is often criticized for the platform. Nevertheless, the constraints are still present since the social network indicates that the body of the text will be limited to 2,500 words – or approximately 14,000 characters with spaces –, and that the title cannot exceed 100 characters. Note, however, that this is a function distinct from tweets, but posts can be shared via the latter. It is possible to edit an existing and already shared post, but an Edited label at the top of the page will make it easy for users to know.

Twitter Notes: the end of threads?

It is likely that Twitter Notes will replace Twitter threads – also known as feeds – which are widely used by Internet users when they wish to express themselves by giving many details. Composed of several tweets published one after the other, the threads create a form of suspense for users, who must unroll them to discover their content. If this form works very well for certain stories, when the events told undergo twists for example (we all think of the famous affair of the melon during the test of philosophy, which recently made the rounds of the Internet), it remains somewhat little outdated. Internet users are even forced to use tools like Splitters and Thread Reader to obtain more readability. A diversification of formats is therefore more than welcome.

This function is currently in the testing phase only. Twitter says Notes creation testing is being done for limited groups of users in the US, Canada, UK and Ghana. The social network specifies that “theUsers in most countries can read the Notes whether they use Twitter or not.“. No date for an official release of the function has been revealed at this time.