Twitter 140 character limit under threat: could this be the making of a potential disaster?
Sukh BrarBlog
Founded in 2006, Twitter did not take long to become an integral aspect of social media. Even though Facebook arguably remains the nucleus platform in social networking, Twitter, over a period of time, has been successful in garnering its own audience and user base. As an analyst myself, I know many who prefer the micro-blogging platform against other prominent platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Since its inception, Twitter has surpassed ‘online ancient giants’ like Orkut, MySpace, and Google+ (I don’t feel sorry for listing Google+ as ancient). Twitter has proved its worth time and again, but what makes this portal so enjoyable for users?
The answer is simple, it’s the limit. Users enjoy the challenge that comes with expressing their happiness, disappointment, rage, opinions, views, and cynicism in mere 140 characters or 20-25 words, and surprisingly, there are some who have the 140 character limit exceeding their requirements. Twitter became the default medium for celebrities before they became an active part of Facebook mentions. With its limit, Twitter gives users the option to say enough without revealing too much. This proves to be a useful feature for celebrities who fear being misquoted, misrepresented, or prefer not to share a lot of information online. Building upon the same advantage, Twitter garnered users over the years with its present user base expanding to over 300 million active accounts in all continents.
The other important question one should ask is, are 140 characters really enough? What makes 140 a little less for some, enough for few, and more than enough for the rest? Analysts did not trouble themselves much with the question and remained glued to the spectacles that transformed the micro-blogging platform into a new form of online interaction.
Now, with reports coming in of the 140 character limit becoming history in order to make room for a higher character limit, there has been an extensive debate about this contreversial push from the company. With the consistent dip in the company’s stock prices, lack of new ideas to enhance the interface, and a declining growth rate in the number of users, Twitter is looking for alternative options to attract users from different strata. However, I think Twitter should be wary about making changes the foundation it has built its castle upon. Already, many Twitter users expressed concern over the extension, suggesting that there wasn’t any urgent need.
Who knows if the decision makers at Twitter feel the same way. Twitter, in its wavering times could either take a lesson from Facebook or build upon something unique to cater to the ever growing online population, or with a series of unexplained updates, follow the likes of Orkut and MySpace.