Twitter recently allowed a limited number of users to double the number of characters permitted per tweet to 280—hardly an epic length, but still a significant change for the ultra-short-form social platform. In announcing the change in late September, Twitter said company research showed that users were frustrated by the 140-character limit. If the test is a success, it will get a full rollout.
Morning Consult surveyed US internet users about the change this month and found a generally positive response, with those who expressed support clearly outweighing those who did not. Younger users in particular were supportive, with 41% of respondents ages 18 to 29 having at least a somewhat positive reaction to the change, and just 14% expressing reservations.
US Internet Users’ Primary Attitude Toward Twitter Increasing the Character Limit of Tweets from 140 to 280 Characters, by Demographic, Oct 2017 (% of respondents in each group)
A majority of respondents said they didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion—not surprising given that the survey base was internet users in general, not Twitter users specifically.
Overall, 30% were at least somewhat supportive of longer-format tweets. And 17% said the increased character limit made them more likely to tweet themselves.
When asked if they would be more likely to check Twitter for news about current events as a result of the change, 20% said they were at least somewhat more likely to do so.
According to eMarketer’s latest estimates, there will be 55.9 million monthly Twitter users in the US in 2017. That number is projected to grow to 59.7 million by 2021.
News sourced from eMarketer.
