San Diego,CA-(blog) Twitter is experimenting with expanding the 140 character limit to 280. I am excited to say that I was lucky enough to be included in that beta group, and I dig it.
Back in the day when Twitter launched, I remember trying to explain what Twitter was. We used to say it’s mini blogging... which then led to the question...what is blogging? Well it's writing on a blog. OK what is a blog, etc. etc. etc. The explanation I like to give now is that it’s more like texting to the public. A normal tweet has 140 character limit, a text has 160 the new beta Twitter is 280.
TOP 5-10 Reasons why Twitter should keep the expanded 280 character limit.
1. Express Yourself : With the 280 character limit, I find it easier to craft a more natural complete thought. I also find myself actually being able to use adjectives rather than sacrificing them for brevity. This according to Twitter’s blog post is exactly the reason for the expansion, “9% of all Tweet in English hit the 140 character limit.”.
2. Quicker learning curve for beginners : For those new to Twitter or who never got quite started on Twitter, the 280 character limit will help attract a new or renewed audience.
3. Better Grammar: Speaking of using adjectives, you also get to write in multiple, more correct sentences. I find myself being able to express a complete thought and then add #hashtags. Yes, I am still including some of the text within a sentence structure #hashtagged, but it’s a lot more forgiving and interesting.
4. More characters means more #Hashtags: If your goal is to be read or seen and grow your Twitter following and increase your brand, then the consistent use of #hashtags helps.For example, #actorslife #setlife #entrepreneur these are hashtags I use often, and because of it I get new followers and traffic from those consistent and expanded hashtags.
"Twitter's new 280 limit means more characters which means more #hashtags which means more traffic." -DavidKamatoy.guru
5. Twitter is relevant again: Social media has a tendency to be quickly generational. (Those damn kids on MySpace. Back in my day we used Compuserve and we liked it.) This current generation has a tendency to move towards Instagram and Snapchat vs. Twitter and Facebook. I tell people of all generations that we must communicate with people on whatever platform that they are on. So while your friends are on Instagram, the people hiring you might be on LinkedIn and the people you need to impress may be on Facebook. That and posting a resume on Snapchat doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Twitter has a tendency to be more in the middle and have the best of both worlds. Which is why I focus my efforts here and I try get my clients both in entertainment and business to do the same. Even if you have a dominant presence on other platforms, I still have people focus on Twitter.
Many of the early adopters have a strong presence on Twitter: popular entertainers, business people, platforms, and yes even President Trump is part of the reason that Twitter is relevant. You can be as light or as heavy as you would like, but the fact that the platform allows that lean towards the intellectual makes a lot of sense. Also, Twitter algorithms are a lot less restrictive than Facebook. In Facebook your posts are extremely limited and you often need to pay to play for more exposure. In Twitter your tweets and interactions have a better chance of being seen, and vice versa. Especially now with the character expansion..
Also Twitter has been the most open towards API integration, it seems. The ability to use programs like Hootsuite, Socialoomph, Klout and Manageflitter to manage the data and build a following is exciting.
Random points: As a reference point you can read the blog post about their reasoning for expanding the character limit here.
Not everyone has the 280 limit (including President Trump), and so popular programs that allow you to post from their sites are still using a 140 character default. So I am actually copying and pasting into Twitter natively so I can expand my message.
Financially: Let’s face it Twitter is still trying to figure that one out. But they continue to hold their insane evaluation. So hopefully this experiment will be fruitful to them. If Twitter ever wants to fly my team in to brainstorm on how this thing can make money, I would love to do that.
Conclusion: I hope it sticks. I think it helps the English language. I think it helps us express ourselves, and finally I think that we as users get more out of it with the ability to add #hashtags and be seen by more relevant viewers.
Written by: David Kamatoy Editor: Stephen Prendergast
David Kamatoy is a juggler literally and figuratively. A Nationally Syndicated TV/ Radio producer known for The Big Biz Show and Sully’s Biz Brew. He host’s his own show, “David Kamatoy Blog Show” a magazine style format show covering entertainment, entrepreneurship and e-marketing. He is co-founder of Kamatoy Media Group and Jugglemail.com a CRM email marketing company As an early adopter to social media he understands the long term benefits of self-branding and content creation.
