Twitter finally extended the character limit for its users after several weeks of testing. The 140-character limit has been extended to 280 for everyone.

1. Test Shows That Longer
Tweets Produced Better
Engagement
Sphere Agency

2. Twitter finally extended the character limit for its users after several weeks of testing. The
140-character limit has been extended to 280 for everyone.
Users of the social media platform have gone on for years with keeping their tweets short
and abbreviated, but surveys and statistics collected by Twitter found that the 140-
character limit was toolimiting.The change had sparked controversy in the past when it
was initially announced, but after the launch, users acknowledged that it seems a good
strategy.
Benefits of Longer Tweets
As to whether or not longer tweets are better than what everyone is used to, Twitter
studied the select few who firstused the 280-character limit and found that after the
novelty of it had passed, going beyond 140 characters became normal. Besides that quick
adjustment by its users, Twitter also found that those who used longer tweets had an
increase in engagement. Users who posted longer tweets received more likes, RTs, and
@mentions.

3. From a different perspective, longer tweets also benefitted businesses in other ways, such
as:
 Marketing – Promoting a service or product with a longer character limit will help
businesses relay their messages better than cramming or abbreviating certain
words.
 Reputation management – Public relations would have an easier time addressing
issues and answering questions brought to them on Twitter via @mentions.
 Clarity/transparency – Businesses can express themselves more clearly, no
longer needing to resort to abbreviations and short sentences.
Why the Change
Twitter continuously monitors the habits of its users in posting tweets and engaging in
other people’s tweets. Their studies found that a 140-character limit forced users to
become more creative in trying to relay their thoughts. The problem, however, was that
too much time spent on editing a tweet caused users to abandon the tweet altogether.

4. Other countries that speak a different language and use different writing forms do not
need the change because cramming is not an issue for them. Now that English-speaking
users have a longer character limit, cramming will not be much of an issue for them as
well.
Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-280-character-tweets-for-everyone-2017-11
http://www.thesphereagency.com.au/services/public-relations/
https://www.marketingmag.com.au/news-c/twitter-rolls-280-character-tweets-users/