Twitter's 140-character limit is a relic from 2006 and bound by the character limit set by SMS, which was used to send tweets. Now, the micro-blogging platform is considering being a little more lenient about the length of tweets.
According to a Bloomberg report, Twitter won't be taking into account links and pictures in the 140 characters each user is allotted per tweet, and the update can be expected to come as quickly as in two weeks.
Twitter normally shortens links using its own URL shortener t.co, but even shortened tweets take up 25 characters. The ability to include links and images and not have them eat into the character limit would definitely be a welcome change.
Twitter, earlier this year, was said to be considering increasing the character limit, but the plans were soon dropped. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called the limit a "beautiful constraint," but with users putting up screenshots of longer messages and narrating a story through multiple tweets, it seems like the company is keen on striking a balance.
Twitter's brevity is its USP. The fact that 140 characters is enough to get the message across has made it a primary source of news for many and the news being concise makes reading it much easier.
While the character limit has prevented users from sharing more links and posting photos on Twitter, things might change very soon, moving Twitter away from the text-heavy platform it has historically been.
