Twitter Changes to 280 Characters: Pros and Cons

Well, it finally happened. Last week, Twitter changed their character limit from 140 to 280. From what I’ve seen and heard, the reactions are mixed. With the increase comes new creative ways for marketers to get their message across and potentially many long, boring tweets.

Pros

More Freedom
With 140 characters, there were only so many ways a to convey information on a product, service, trade show, etc. But, everyone found a way. Now with the character limit being doubled, no one should feel limited by words. With twice the characters, you can express your message with more information in a clearer way.

More Users
With this change, Twitter is hoping to attract new users. So, why does that matter? It means more followers and more potential customers.

Cons

No One Wants to Read A Novel
You know how I mentioned more freedom in the pros? Well, that can also be a bad thing. People are going to be tempted to usethe full 280 characters. That could lead to many boring tweets. You’re trying to keep people coming back to your page and drive people to your website, not push them away for good. Remember, people liked Twitter because, for the most part, it was short and to the point.

If you’re going to use the 280, get creative! Here’s some examples from Social Media Today that should help you get started: https://goo.gl/7XTSpB

Can You Stand Out From the Crowd?
If Twitter does start attracting new users, are you going to be able stand out from everyone else? With new users, comes more content. With more content means some people might not see your content.

Whether you like the change to Twitter or not, it’s here and we have to learn to work with it. The only question I have for Twitter now is, when is the edit button coming?

Let us know how you feel about the change to Twitter in the comments!