The Instagram-ification of Twitter

Advertisers think a picture is worth way more than 140 characters

Twitter
(Image credit: (Photo illustration by Mary Turner/Getty Images))

At the core of Twitter's success is the idea that you have to work within very specific and confining parameters. This brutal efficiency manifests itself in a couple ways: The use of hashtags as a sock drawer for organizing conversations, or the 140-character limit that, let's remember, used to be words only.

Now, as Twitter approaches an initial public offering, the platform is embarking on a striking overhaul that will literally expand every tweet. Starting today, timelines on Twitter will be "more visual and more engaging," as the company put it in a blog post, on both Twitter.com and in its official iOS and Android apps.

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Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.