Twitter will make the update in the next fortnight, according to Bloomberg sources. Posting multimedia currently uses 23 characters of Twitter’s 140-character limit.
A number of users including PR and media professionals welcomed the news:
As a social media director, this is the best news ever. https://t.co/w76pjcFvaV
— Barbara Dunkelman (@bdunkelman) May 16, 2016
Your photos on Twitter will no longer count as part of the 140-character limit. (#Finally.) https://t.co/GYHWDxIpJF pic.twitter.com/NAfCizLjAc
— E! News (@enews) May 17, 2016
What a good idea | Twitter revolution as links and photos to no longer hog 140-character limit https://t.co/0ZJTzyC9UZ
— Aisling Foley (@AislingFoleyMkt) May 17, 2016
FREEDOM!! Twitter 'to stop counting photos and links in character limit' https://t.co/Hh54lPVPSP
— Adam Leach (@JAdamLeach) May 17, 2016
Good news! Twitter will reportedly stop counting photos & links in the 140-character limit: https://t.co/C1pOWgpo31
— Way To Blue UK (@WaytoblueUK) May 17, 2016
Makes sense: Twitter 'to stop counting photos and links in character limit' https://t.co/9LSbySWqNy
— Hamish Thompson (@HamishMThompson) May 17, 2016
However, some were less keen:
Blow for the art of subbing and succinctness as Twitter will exempt links and pix from 140ch limit https://t.co/ECexpYYKtW boo.
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) May 16, 2016
Other reactions were more tongue-in-cheek:
Extra characters for tweets? In my day tweets were 140 characters period and we had to scratch them onto a boulder.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) 16 May 2016
The news comes after a series of tweaks to Twitter as the company tries to boost engagement. In February, the company updated to an algorithmic timeline that no longer displayed tweets in chronological order.
CEO Jack Dorsey had said the company was looking for ways for users to post longer pieces of text on Twitter, noting that many often posted screenshots of longer articles.
The company removed the 140-character limit in direct messages last year.
This article is updated from one that first appeared on PRWeek sister title Campaign
