Twitter users torn over 280-character limit roll-out

Twitter has increased the character limit for tweets for the first time in the social media site’s history.

The permitted maximum of 140 characters has been doubled to 280 “in response to criticism that it was not easy enough to tweet”, says BBC News.

Early trials of Twitter’s new limit began in September, The Daily Telegraph reports, and “provoked a fierce backlash from its famously vocal user base”.

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Today’s global roll-out has provoked a more mixed reaction, with some fans welcoming the move.

Others are calling for the introduction of an edit button for posts - a common feature on most social network sites.

However, a significant number of users are unhappy about the extended character limit, which many say is unnecessary.

Most users are unlikely to use their maximum 280 characters per tweet, says the Telegraph, which reports that only 5% of people in the trials exceeded the original 140 limit.

Meanwhile, Twitter is telling users that “your timeline reading experience should not substantially change”, as you will “still see about the same amount of tweets in your timeline”.

The social media site says that tweets with pictures or polls attached to them, for example, “usually take up more space than a 190-character tweet”.

The limit increase came into effect at 9pm GMT on Tuesday, says BBC News, although Twitter users in Japan, China and Korea will remain on the old system as their lettering “can convey more information in a single character”.