RIP Twitter?

(Image credit: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

published 29 September 2015

The microblog is dead, long live the microblog. Twitter is apparently working on a new product that will enable users to bypass its signature 140-character limit, Re/code reports:

It's unclear what the product will look like, but sources say it would enable Twitter users to publish long-form content to the service. Users can already tweet out blocks of text with products like OneShot, but those are simply images, not actual text published on Twitter. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment. [Re/code]

If that sounds terrible, don't panic just yet: There's no promise that the long-form feature will make it to consumers, Re/code says. However, the loosening of the restrictions — which constitute the network's principal appeal to hard-core users, but limit its broader appeal — appears to be part of the company's overall strategy for growth. Earlier this year, Twitter tossed out the 140-character limit for direct messages.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.