logo-loader

Twitter to relax the 140 character limit

Last updated: 08:37 17 May 2016 EDT, First published: 03:37 17 May 2016 EDT

Twitter, a popular means of terse communication
This caption, for instance, makes do with only 60 characters

In the “why didn't they think of this before?” category, social media network Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) is to relax its 140 character limit for posts.

News agency Bloomberg claims the company will stop counting photos and hyperlinks as part of the character limit.

The change could happen in the next two weeks according to an unnamed Bloomberg source inside Twitter.

Hyperlinks currently take up 23 characters even after being shortened.

The 140 character limit is a legacy from the days when that was the limit for SMS text messages on old school mobile phones, and although the company could simply abolish the limit, the need to be concise has become a feature of the service that is much loved by die-hards and those readers with short … what was I saying again?

In other Twitter news, the company announced yesterday that Debra Lee, chairman and chief executive of BET Networks, had been appointed to the board.

Dame Marjorie Scardino – the title “dame” being the female equivalent of a knight in the British honours system – has assumed the role of lead independent director.

Scardino was formerly the boss of UK publishing powerhouse Pearson Group PLC.

BenevolentAI advances novel ulcerative colitis treatment through Phase 1a trial

BenevolentAI (OTC:BAIVF) chief scientific officer Dr Anne Phelan joins Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with positive safety data from the Phase 1a, first-in-human, clinical study of BEN-8744 in healthy volunteers. Phelan explained that BEN-8744 is a potent, selective PD10 inhibitor, uniquely...

1 hour, 35 minutes ago