Twitter is increasing to 280 characters because of languages impacted by cramming

Twitter says it is increasing the 140 character limit to 280 characters because of languages impacted by cramming.

I must say this is about time. Do you know how many times I have had to edit tweets just to fit into the 140 character limit?

So It is trying out a longer limit, 280 characters, in languages impacted by cramming (which is all except Japanese, Chinese, and Korean).

We want every person around the world to easily express themselves on Twitter, so we’re doing something new: we’re going to try out a longer limit, 280 characters, in languages impacted by cramming (which is all except Japanese, Chinese, and Korean).

Twitter is already trying out this feature with a small group right.

Twitter shared its findings from its study of the character limit

According to Aliza Rosen and Ikuhiro Ihara  in a blog post

We see that a small percent of Tweets sent in Japanese have 140 characters (only 0.4%). But in English, a much higher percentage of Tweets have 140 characters (9%). Most Japanese Tweets are 15 characters while most English Tweets are 34. Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people Tweeting in English, but it is not for those Tweeting in Japanese. Also, in all markets, when people don’t have to cram their thoughts into 140 characters and actually have some to spare, we see more people Tweeting – which is awesome!

Twitter shared the effect of the increased characters;

Here are 140 (left) and 280 (right) character Tweets in the timeline.

Twitter hopes “fewer Tweets run into the character limit, which should make it easier for everyone to Tweet”. It reminds us that “Twitter is about brevity. It’s what makes it such a great way to see what’s happening. Tweets get right to the point with the information or thoughts that matter. That is something we will never change.”