The frustration of crafting the perfect tweet and finding an amazing image – only to realize the character limit has been surpassed – may soon be a thing of the past.
In a nod to users who like to maximize their characters, Twitter will stop counting photos and links toward the allowed maximum of 140, according to Bloomberg. The change could apparently happen as early as the end of the month, said a source close to the matter.
Twitter has not officially commented on Bloomberg’s report.
If true, the new policy would be a boon for Twitter users, who lose 23 characters per link – even if shortened – and 24 characters per photo.
So why have a limit at all? The 140-character ceiling dates back to the early days of the company when tweets had to be mobile text message-friendly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the limit is going anywhere.
CEO Jack Dorsey says he is still a fan of the brief, bite-sized tweet, but says he is closely monitoring how people are using Twitter. In order to post long statements within a single tweet, for example, users have taken to tweeting out a screenshot of the message.
Dorsey recently responded to reports that Twitter was going to start allowing 10,000 characters per tweet by tweeting a photo of his own – a screenshot of his 10-paragraph reply:
